The COVID-19 pandemic reminded the world just how tightly health and economic stability are linked. Yet beyond the immediate impacts of the pandemic, the growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)—such as cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular conditions—represents an escalating crisis in 2025. This burden, already significant, continues to increase with aging populations and lifestyle changes, threatening to overwhelm healthcare systems and impede economic growth. Investing in health innovation is essential to ensuring sustainable societies and economies.
Despite an eventful start to the year—marked by the resignation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the looming threat of tariffs that could disrupt key industries—Canada now has a unique opportunity to chart a new course. With a change in leadership coming this year and the 2025 Group of Seven (G7) presidency, Canada can seize this moment to reaffirm its commitment to fostering “economies that benefit everyone,” one of its 2025 G7 goals. Canada should use its G7 presidency, which it has held since January 1, to reaffirm its commitment to fostering such economies by placing advancements in health innovation high on the organization’s agenda. Ottawa should prioritize communicating the importance of health innovation for economic growth and societal well-being, expanding access to early screenings for NCDs, and building sustainable financing and funding models for investing in health technologies.
Why health innovation matters
Healthcare plays a central role in the social contract, fostering trust, cohesion, and resilience by ensuring that individuals can lead healthier, more productive lives. But advances in health innovation and improved health outcomes can also create immense economic value. Improving global health could boost the global economy by up to twelve trillion dollars by 2040, according to a 2020 report by McKinsey. More granular data highlights the socioeconomic costs of failing to address diseases like cancer. A recent study estimated the global economic cost of cancers from 2020 to 2050 to be $25.2 trillion (in 2017 US dollars), essentially an annual 0.55 percent tax on global gross domestic product.
The economic case for health innovation becomes even clearer when considering the economic benefits of optimal research and development spending on treatments and vaccines for known diseases. A 2024 study by the National Institutes of Health showed that the economic benefits of spending for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments ranged from $2 trillion to $60 trillion, with rates of return of 12 percent to 23 percent. Furthermore, innovative treatments for multiple sclerosis, for instance, are expected to make significant improvements over the next decade, which can reduce relapse rates and slow disease progression, leading to enhanced productivity.
Health innovation also provides exceptional returns on investment. According to a McKinsey study, every dollar invested in health innovation yields two to four dollars in economic benefits. Beyond immediate savings, healthier populations are more active in the workforce, have lower rates of absenteeism (for both patients and their caregivers), and demand less from healthcare systems, all of which enhances overall productivity. In addition, addressing NCDs early and efficiently ensures that aging populations remain economically active for longer, offsetting the demographic headwinds many G7 economies currently face.
Prioritizing health innovation in G7 fiscal budgets
G7 countries must make health innovation a fiscal priority. The rising prevalence of chronic diseases and the associated economic costs demand immediate action. For example, integrating early screening and advanced treatment technologies can significantly reduce disease progression, ultimately lowering long-term healthcare costs. Mature economies like Japan and those in the European Union, where aging populations exacerbate healthcare challenges, must proactively allocate budgets toward sustainable health innovation. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has emphasized that health is not just a cost—it is a driver of wealth. Public-private partnerships are a powerful mechanism to ensure that healthcare spending is efficient and impactful. For instance, public-private partnerships enable collaboration between governments and private companies to share costs, accelerate the deployment of cutting-edge technologies like artificial intelligence (AI)-based diagnostics, and improve infrastructure management, ensuring that resources are directed where they generate the highest value.
Countries like Finland offer a blueprint for success. Finland’s investments in digital health technologies have not only fostered public trust but also built economic resilience. Drawing from such examples, G7 countries should make health innovation a cornerstone of their fiscal strategies, addressing immediate healthcare needs while preparing for future economic and demographic challenges.
Canada’s opportunity to lead on health innovation
With Canada leading the G7 this year, it has a unique opportunity to place health innovation at the forefront of the global agenda. While Canada’s presidency will face competing priorities—geopolitical conflicts, inflation, and economic instability—health should remain a central focus because of its foundational role in addressing these challenges. Robust health systems enhance resilience against crises, support economic stability, and strengthen societal trust.
Canada can lead by encouraging the G7 to embrace four key priorities:
- Recognize the economic and societal value of health innovation. Health innovation offers benefits far beyond clinical outcomes. Canada should advocate for greater recognition of how investments in healthcare drive economic growth, improve workforce participation, and enhance societal well-being. This can be done by pushing for G7 targets on reducing the economic burden of specific diseases.
- Adopt early screening and diagnosis. Prioritizing early detection of diseases can significantly reduce long-term healthcare costs while improving patient outcomes. Canada can push for collaborative efforts across the G7 to standardize and expand access to early screening technologies.
- Promote sustainable funding and financing models. Canada should champion innovative financing solutions that blend public and private funding. These models can ensure that health systems are resilient, adaptable, and capable of addressing rising costs without compromising accessibility or quality of care.
- Emphasize the role of digital health technologies in driving efficiency and innovation. Interoperable data systems, for example, enable better coordination of care, earlier diagnosis, and more personalized treatment plans—all critical to managing the growing burden of NCDs.
Building a health-driven economy
By adopting a comprehensive health agenda, G7 nations can unlock immense economic and social rewards. Health improvements alone could increase global employment growth by 0.3 percent by 2040, which would help reduce labor shortages and enhance economic resilience. These benefits extend beyond high-income countries; investments in health innovation can strengthen global partnerships, reduce health inequities, and promote shared growth.
Health innovation is not merely a policy choice; it is an economic imperative. Under Canada’s leadership, the G7 can set a bold agenda that recognizes the broader value of health, prioritizes innovation, and builds resilient economies. By acting now, G7 nations can secure a healthier, more prosperous future for their citizens and the world.
Carl Meacham is a consultant at the Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center. He served as deputy vice president at PhRMA and as senior staffer in the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.
This article was written as part of the ’s partnership with Roche.
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