World Economic Forum Sponsors Healthy Brains Financing Initiative 2020 Annual Meeting
On Thursday, January 23, 2020, Healthy Brains Financing Initiative (HBFI) Co-Chairs Garen Staglin, One Mind, and Victor Dzau, National Academy of Medicine, led a multilateral meeting sponsored by the World Economic Forum to engage global leaders on a ground-breaking global initiative defined by new science and new finance and designed to change life trajectories of those affected by brain disorders.
Scheduled for launch in 2021, the Healthy Brains Financing Initiative will deliver a $10 billion USD umbrella set of financing mechanisms to fuel an unprecedented increase in the delivery of evidence-based care and brain science breakthroughs across developed- and low- and middle-income countries. An estimated 450 million people worldwide live with mental illness producing an annual global burden of $3 trillion USD. Despite this, only 3% of global healthcare resources are targeted towards brain health. As noted by Dr. Tedros Adhanom, Director General of the World Health Organization, “When it comes to mental health, every country is a developing country. Bold action in the form of HBFI is long overdue.”
“HBFI is pleased to have this opportunity to unite global leaders in research, finance, patient advocacy, public health, and civil society to develop new understandings of disease mechanisms and, ultimately, means of prevention of mental and neurological disorders. We are enthusiastic and appreciative of this collaboration with the World Economic Forum to launch the HBFI, following in the path of other similar WEF-sponsored initiatives that have changed the course of major global threats, such as HIV-AIDS and emerging infectious diseases. Mental and neurological conditions are today’s most urgent unmet need, requiring a similar strategy and partnership,” said Co-Chair Victor Dzau, President of the National Academy of Medicine.
“This is not business as usual. We are ready to break the mold to design new efficient management systems and create an effective global governance framework. HBFI will use this unprecedented financing mechanism to fund new science that targets problems grounded in the human condition and addresses the world’s most pressing brain health disparities and needs,” said HBFI Co-founder Garen Staglin, Chairman and Co-founder of One Mind.
For more information on the Healthy Brains Financing Initiative see healthybrainsfinancing.org or contact Garen Staglin (garen.staglin@onemind.org) or Victor Dzau (vdzau@nas.edu).