Global Health and Healthcare Strategic Outlook

The World Economic Forum and L.E.K. Consulting outline a strategic framework to transition global healthcare toward a more equitable, resilient, and sustainable model by 2035. The report identifies critical barriers, including workforce shortages, funding gaps, and the climate crisis, while proposing levers such as public-private partnerships and digitalization. It utilizes global case studies—ranging from India's digital health infrastructure to South Africa's behavioral health incentives—to demonstrate how systemic change can be achieved through cross-sector collaboration.

• The report proposes a 2035 vision based on four strategic pillars with equity as the foundation: equitable access and outcomes, healthcare systems transformation, technology and innovation, and environmental sustainability.
• Global healthcare spending is increasing at an unsustainable rate, with total expenditure expected to reach $12 trillion in 2022, compared to $8.5 trillion in 2018.
• There is a critical global shortage of healthcare workers, with an estimated 10 million workers missing worldwide by 2030, primarily affecting low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).
• Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 71% of global deaths annually, totaling 41 million deaths, with 29 million of those occurring in LMICs.
• The healthcare industry is a significant source of emissions, contributing approximately 4.4% of global net carbon dioxide emissions.
• Digitalization and AI are identified as key levers for improving efficiency; for example, in the US, chronic diseases affect 50% of the population and drive over 85% of healthcare costs, suggesting a high potential for AI-powered prevention.
• The report highlights the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) in India as a model for scaling digital health infrastructure, having created nearly 250 million unique patient identifiers by September 2022.
• Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a top global threat, with 1.3 million deaths directly attributed to it in 2019, leading to the creation of the Global Antibiotic Research and Development Partnership (GARDP) to address the 'dry antibiotic pipeline'.
• Value-based healthcare models, such as those implemented by NHS Wales, aim to shift the focus from the volume of services delivered to the actual health outcomes achieved.
• The Sustainable Markets Initiative (SMI) Health Systems Task Force aims to decarbonize healthcare by focusing on supply chains, which are estimated to drive approximately 50% of overall healthcare emissions.

APA

World Economic Forum (2023). Global Health and Healthcare Strategic Outlook. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Health_and_Healthcare_Strategic_Outlook_2023.pdf

Chicago

World Economic Forum. Global Health and Healthcare Strategic Outlook. 2023. https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Health_and_Healthcare_Strategic_Outlook_2023.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=World Economic Forum |title=Global Health and Healthcare Strategic Outlook |date=January 2023 |url=https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Health_and_Healthcare_Strategic_Outlook_2023.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{worldeconomicforum2023global, author = {{World Economic Forum}}, title = {{Global Health and Healthcare Strategic Outlook}}, institution = {World Economic Forum}, year = {2023}, month = jan, url = {https://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Global_Health_and_Healthcare_Strategic_Outlook_2023.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }