World Economic Forum blog: How to strengthen healthcare systems against future shocks

The past two years have highlighted the fragility and fragmentation within our global healthcare systems, and how vulnerable they are to disruption. The world is certain to face other shocks in the future – which means we must prepare ourselves today, as Jayasree K. Iyer argues in her latest article on the website of the World Economic Forum.

Headlined "How to strengthen healthcare systems against future shocks", the piece was published as part of the Davos Agenda virtual summit in January 2022. It sets out the improvements in access to medicine in low- and middle-income countries which are necessary to make health systems more robust in the face of future challenges. As well as exploring the scale of the task ahead, the article identifies the steps which are already being taken in the right direction.

The pandemic showed where the cracks in the system were, and split them open.

Healthcare systems are complex and interconnected, and it is only by looking at the weak spots – and mobilising a diverse group of healthcare companies to take decisive action – that we can strengthen the system as a whole. This is the approach which the Access to Medicine Foundation will take with our new Strategic Direction for 2022-2026.