IIPP Director launches Portuguese edition of WHO Council final report in Brasília

Professor Mariana Mazzucato travelled to Brasília to host an inter-ministerial workshop aimed at informing Brazil’s economic agenda and to launch the new Portuguese translation of the final report of the WHO Council on the Economics of Health for All, which she chaired.

On Thursday 28 September, Professor Mazzucato launched the new Portuguese translation of the final report of the World Health Organization (WHO) Council on the Economics of Health for All, "Health for All: Transforming economies to deliver what matters" alongside Brazil’s Minister of Health Nísia Trindade Lima, Minister of Management and Innovation in Public Services, Esther Dweck, Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO) Representative in Brazil, Dr. Socorro Gross, Secretary of Science, Technology and Strategic Products at the Brazilian Ministry of Health, Carlos Gadelha, and Federal Deputy in the National Congress of Brazil and President of the Special Commission on the Fight against Cancer in Brazil, Weliton Prado.

The launch coincided with the launch, by President Lula, of Brazil’s National Strategy for the Development of the Health Economic-Industrial Complex (HEIC). The Brazilian Government has adopted an all-of-government approach to its HEIC Strategy, which brings together a host of different ministries to bolster Brazil’s health outcomes through industrial policy.

The HEIC aligns strongly with the recommendations of the Council’s report, which calls for a mission-oriented approach to health and well-being, asking a fundamental question: if health for all is the mission, then how do we design the economy to deliver on it? It argues in favour of bringing ambitious human and planetary health goals into alignment with investment, innovation, and public-private collaboration and of ensuring that health is seen as a strategic investment instead of a social expenditure.

Professor Mazzucato’s visit was also an opportunity to advance the work of the UCL Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose (IIPP) with the Government of Brazil. IIPP is advising the government on how to coordinate and build the strategic capacity to implement its agenda of economic transformation – which prioritizes social inclusion and climate goals alongside growth. 

The IIPP team worked with colleagues in the Ministry of Management and Innovation to host a workshop attended by senior representatives of eight different ministries – including the Ministry of Finance; Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade; Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation; Casa Civil; Ministry of Management and Innovation; Ministry of Health; and Ministry of Environment and Climate Change – to discuss opportunities to align key policy initiatives using a mission-oriented approach. Six missions are currently being defined by the National Council for Industrial Development (CNDI) that, together with the Ecological Transition Plan and the Growth Acceleration Plan (PAC), could help to coordinate this agenda. Professor Mazzucato also met with the Minister of the Environment and Climate Change, Marina Silva, and with the Executive Secretary of Casa Civil, Miriam Belchior, during her visit.

This visit builds on Prof Mazzucato’s previous visit to Brazil in July 2023, when she met with President Lula for an hour-long meeting to discuss the challenges and opportunities for Brazil’s socio-economic transformation. Sarah Doyle, Director’s Chief of Staff, and Luca Kühn von Burgsdorff, Director’s Policy Advisor, have worked closely with Prof Mazzucato, while two of IIPP’s MPA students, Giulia Pagliarini Lanzuolo and Sylvia Amaral Romanelli, have also been involved.  


Read more about the WHO Council final report here.

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