Reflection PaperGlobal Future Council on Health and Healthcare 2018-2019A Vision for the Future: Transforming Health SystemsSeptember 2019 World Economic Forum91-93 route de la CapiteCH-1223 Cologny/GenevaSwitzerlandTel.: +41 (0)22 869 1212Fax: +41 (0)22 786 2744Email: contact@weforum.orgwww.weforum.org© 2019 World Economic Forum. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the World Economic Forum or the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) or its member countries. 3A Vision for the Future: Transforming Health SystemsContentsForeword 5Executive summary 6Introduction 7Methodology 9The health journey scenarios 10Scenario 1: Wellness journey in a low-income country or context 10Scenario 2: Woman and child journey in a low-income country or context 12Scenario 3: Diabetes patient journey in a middle-income country or context 14Scenario 4: Cancer patient journey in a high-income country or context 16Scenario 5: Healthy ageing journey in a high-income country or context 18Recommendations 20Conclusion 22Acknowledgements 23Endnotes 244Global Future Council on Health and Healthcare 2018-20195A Vision for the Future: Transforming Health SystemsForewordHealth systems are under major pressure globally. Population growth, ageing, the emergence of personalized medicine and the growing potential of new technologies, along with rapidly rising costs and the entry of disruptive and non-traditional competitors, will increase demand for services and affect the performance and sustainability of healthcare delivery systems. By 2050, one in six people will be over 65 years old1 and more people will live with one or more chronic diseases. Despite reforms in funding and payment models in some countries, there is ample evidence of waste and inefficiencies in health systems.2 Global healthcare spending is projected to continue increasing. These trends demand urgent attention from all stakeholders in the health system. Such systems must transform to deliver what people need better, while remaining financially viable in the long term. This paper argues that today’s health systems need to be reformed, and that reform is possible. It identifies some key conditions for reform and barriers that need to be addressed to encourage this transformation.Prepared by the World Economic Forum Global Future Council on Health and Healthcare 2018-2019, this paper lays out five scenarios developed by the Council of how individuals with different health needs navigate through or relate to the current health system, and the challenges they face in doing so. The Council then considered forward-looking scenarios outlining what these in...
