At an official side event during the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly, nearly 300 civil society voices presented key demands regarding domestic health financing WHA policies. Reporting by the World Health Organization details how organizations convened under the WHO Civil Society Commission and Save the Children to address severe funding gaps. Consequently, civil society delegates called on global leaders to expand primary care investments, strengthen domestic spending targets, institutionalize community participation, and improve budget transparency.
Declining Aid and Primary Care Investments
International health assistance faces major pressures, with development aid for healthcare falling by an estimated 23% to 30% worldwide. In response, civil society advocates urge governments to reframe health spending as an investment in economic resilience rather than an operational cost.
“Health is not a sector that supports the economy; health is an objective the economy must be designed to deliver,” declared Professor Mariana Mazzucato.
Specifically, the collective demands urge Member States to allocate an additional 1% of GDP toward primary healthcare to protect essential services.
Governance, Equity, and Public Accountability
Furthermore, civil society leaders stress that progressive taxation, debt resolution, and health taxes must fund national healthcare expanding efforts. Institutionalizing civil society participation within governance bodies ensures that resources directly reach frontline medical services.
Therefore, establishing transparent, country-defined spending targets remains vital for sustaining universal health coverage. Moving forward, executing these recommendations will determine whether health systems can withstand future fiscal shocks.
World Health Organization. (2026, July 28). Civil society calls for stronger domestic health financing at the Seventy-ninth World Health Assembly. WHO Departmental Updates. https://www.who.int/news/item/28-07-2026-civil-society-calls-for-stronger-domestic-health-financing-at-the-seventy-ninth-world-health-assembly