Next week, health ministers from all 53 member states of the World Health Organization’s European Region will meet in Tallinn to agree on a new charter. The first pan-European charter on health systems—signed in Ljubljana in 1989—focused on the purpose, goals, and core values of health systems. The Tallinn charter is more ambitious. Its aim is to spur political recognition of the economic case for investing in health systems, and to promote more effective stewardship of health resources by governments.

Expenditure on health services is still widely viewed as a short term cost, but substantial evidence now exists that it can benefit the economy. According to WHO, increasing life expectancy at birth by 10% increases economic growth by 0.35% each year.1 The view that health and wealth go together was also at the heart of the Wanless report, which argued that putting a high priority on disease prevention and effective early treatment would reduce future healthcare costs.2 Former European Union Commissioner for Health and Consumer Protection, …