Healthy budgets and healthy people

Download Whitepaper

Health

Healthy budgets and healthy people

Supported By

Elizabeth Sukkar

Senior research manager

Elizabeth is a senior research manager in global health in the policy and insights team at Economist Impact. Prior to this, she was the managing editor and global healthcare editorial lead at Economist Intelligence Unit’s Thought Leadership division. She is the lead on global health projects that help build effective action to develop a sustainable health economy, with patients at the centre. She has led major research projects on universal healthcare, climate change and its impact on lung health, health literacy, digital health, cancer care, self-care, sin taxes, health financing and patient-centred care. She is also the lead on The Economist Group’s World Cancer Initiative which has led to the development of new thinking in cancer care and is a key moderator at the Economist Impact Events’ such as the World Cancer Series, Future of Healthcare and Sustainability Summit. She is a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, a fellow of the Royal Society for Public Health, and has two degrees: a bachelor of pharmacy degree from Monash University (Australia) and a Master of Science in International Health Policy from the London School of Economics (LSE). She has been a journalist and editor for more than 15 years, covering healthcare policy, R&D and science for medical journals and UK newspapers, including the British Medical Journal and the Guardian. Before joining The Economist Group, she was the deputy news editor at the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, where she ran the news and analysis desk and was often called to comment about healthcare issues on BBC radio. She also managed an international team of journalists when she was the world editor of Informa’s Scrip Intelligence, a global publication on pharmaceutical and healthcare policy, where she won the Informa Journalist of Year award. Before moving into journalism, Elizabeth worked as a pharmacist in community, hospital and health authority settings, and she maintains her pharmacist registration.

Read more from Elizabeth Sukkar

Contact

Finance ministry views on the importance, strengths and limitations of tobacco tax revenue and its uses

Healthy budgets and healthy people: Finance ministry views on the importance, strengths and limitations of tobacco tax revenue and its uses is a report written by The Economist Intelligence Unit and sponsored by the World Heart Federation (WHF), a global non-governmental umbrella organisation for scientific and medical groups, patient communities, and other societies interested in cardiovascular health. The content of this report is solely the responsibility of The Economist Intelligence Unit and the views expressed do not reflect those of the WHF.

This publication explores the beliefs and attitudes of senior finance ministry officials on every aspect of tobacco taxation, including its purpose, setting of appropriate rates, illicit trade, enforcement and implications for spending possibilities, including financing universal health coverage.

The research occurred in two phases. As background, The Economist Intelligence Unit conducted an extensive literature and data survey of tobacco taxation and related issues. It also looked at the possible links of such levies to spending, in particular on universal healthcare.

The second phase involved in-depth interviews with ten ministers, former ministers and senior officials at ten finance ministries spread across the world, as well as further in-depth desk research on matters arising from those discussions and the original literature survey.

Our thanks are due to the following interviewees for their time and insight (listed alphabetically):

Interviewees

Santiago Afonso, chief of advisers to the minister, Ministry of the Treasury, Argentina
Chris Axelson, chief director for economic tax analysis, National Treasury, South Africa
Hon. Mauricio Cárdenas, former minister, Ministry of Finance and Public Credit, Colombia
Yuriy Dzhygyr, deputy minister, Ministry of Finance, Ukraine
Terhi Järvikare, director-general of the tax department, Ministry of Finance, Finland
Idrissa Kanu, director of revenue and tax policy, Ministry of Finance, Sierra Leone
Ahmed Kouchouk, vice-minister of finance for fiscal policies and institutional reform, Ministry of Finance, Egypt
Hon. Cesar Purisima, former secretary (minister), Department of Finance, Philippines
Hon. Ryan Straughn, MP, minister, Ministry of Finance, Barbados
Syed Shabbar Zaidi, chairman, Federal Board of Revenue, Pakistan

The report was written by Paul Kielstra and edited by Elizabeth Sukkar of The Economist Intelligence Unit. The literature review and data survey were performed by Amanda Stucke, Anelia Boshnakova, Darshni Nagaria and Alan Lovell from the EIU Healthcare team.

Download Whitepaper

Related content

Health

Value-based healthcare in Sweden: Reaching the next level

The need to get better value from healthcare investment has never been more important as ageing populations and increasing numbers of people with multiple chronic conditions force governments to make limited financial resources go further.

These pressures, along with a greater focus on patient-centred care, have raised the profile of VBHC, especially in European healthcare systems. Sweden, with its highly comprehensive and egalitarian healthcare system, has been a leader in implementing VBHC from the beginning, a fact that was underscored in a 2016 global assessment of VBHC published by The Economist Intelligence Unit.

This paper looks at the ways in which Sweden has implemented VBHC, the areas in which it has faced obstacles and the lessons that it can teach other countries and health systems looking to improve the value of their own healthcare investments.

Health

Breast cancer patients and survivors in the Asia-Pacific workforce

With more older women also working, how will the rising trend of breast cancer survivorship manifest in workplace policies, practices and culture? What challenges do breast cancer survivors face when trying to reintegrate into the workforce, or to continue working during treatment? How can governments, companies and society at large play a constructive role?

This series of reports looks at the situation for breast cancer survivors in Australia, New Zealand and South Korea. It finds that while progress has been made, more needs to be done, particularly in South Korea, where public stigma around cancer remains high.

Health

The Cost of Silence

Cardiovascular diseases levy a substantial financial toll on individuals, their households and the public finances. These include the costs of hospital treatment, long-term disease management and recurring incidence of heart attacks and stroke. They also include the costs of functional impairment and knock-on costs as families may lose breadwinners or have to withdraw other family members from the workforce to care for a CVD patient. Governments also lose tax revenue due to early retirement and mortality, and can be forced to reallocate public finances from other budgets to maintain an accessible healthcare system in the face of rising costs.

As such, there is a need for more awareness of the ways in which people should actively work to reduce their CVD risk. There is also a need for more primary and secondary preventative support from health agencies, policymakers and nongovernmental groups.

To inform the decisions and strategies of these stakeholders, The Economist Intelligence Unit and EIU Healthcare, its healthcare subsidiary, have conducted a study of the prevalence and costs of the top four modifiable risk factors that contribute to CVDs across the Asian markets of China, Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and Thailand.

Download the report to learn more.

Healthy budgets and healthy people

Health

Healthy budgets and healthy people

Social Share:

Social Share:

Related content

Value-based healthcare in Sweden: Reaching the next level

Breast cancer patients and survivors in the Asia-Pacific workforce

The Cost of Silence