There are clear health and economic benefits to investing in preventative healthcare throughout people’s lives. However, despite repeated commitments to prioritise prevention at the G20 level, and the creation of a joint task force involving finance and health ministers, action continues to lag. In an ageing world, this needs to change.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted:

• Many governments’ continued failure to prioritise prevention
• The need to tackle health inequalities
• The need for flexibility and resiliency of healthcare systems to respond to existing and emerging needs and how ill-equipped many of them are to cope with an ageing population

However, it has also shown how quickly governments can adapt their health systems when they choose.

ILC global data analysis and trend work found that:

• By 2050, the proportion of people aged 50 and over will increase by 11 percentage points, resulting in 40% of the G20 population being aged over 50
• G20 citizens aged 50 and over collectively lived 118 million years with disabilities in 2019 due to largely preventable diseases
• Across the G20, preventable conditions cost economies 1.02 trillion USD in yearly productivity loss among those aged 50-64 – this is roughly equivalent to the estimated loss in global worker income for the first half of 2021 as a result of COVID-19

Over the last two years, we have engaged expert stakeholders from around the globe to identify concrete actions we can take to progress the prevention agenda. The first step will be to secure investment in systems designed for prevention. This will enable us to take action to:

• Inspire and engage policymakers, healthcare professionals (HCPs) and individuals to invest, promote, and take action on prevention
• Democratise access to prevention to reduce health inequalities
• Use technology effectively to improve access to preventative healthcare, improve uptake rates, reduce barriers, and empower patients

There are already pockets of good practice across the G20. But we need to see action everywhere.