The Banking Executive Magazine - March 2022 Issue

pathological obsession with GDP has undermined what we value most: Life. In 2020, global GDP grew by $2.2 trillion as a result of govern- ments increasing their military spending; meanwhile, the world still has not provided the mere $50 bil- lion needed to vaccinate the global population. A society that spends 44 times more on war and destruction than on end- ing a pandemic can hardly be con- sidered sane. What if we based our decision-making on what we truly value? We would start with the pri- mary goal of Health for All, and then work backward from that end to de- termine our means of achieving it. In the WHO Council’s policy brief on valuing Health for All, we pro- pose three principles for guiding this effort. The first is to value planetary health, by protecting the integrity of essential common goods such as water and air, and by respecting the ecological boundaries upon which human health and well-being ulti- mately depend. The second principle is to value the social foundations and activities that promote equity. This means championing diversity and in- vesting in social and physical infra- structure to support those in need and enable communities to thrive. The third principle is to take human health seriously, by ensuring that every person can thrive both physi- cally and emotionally, and by pro- viding everyone with the tools to lead lives of dignity and opportunity in healthy communities. What would it take to create an economy that served these objec- tives, and that measured what we re- ally value? First, we must recognise that no single metric can encompass all the diverse components of Health for All, especially not a monolithic, ISSUE 159 MARCH 2022 the BANKING EXECUTIVE 29