Health Systems for the Age of Longevity: Prevention and Sustainable Financing

Asia is aging faster than any region in history, and in many countries it will happen before they are rich. The real question is not another set of measures to cope, but whether health systems built for infectious disease and maternal care can be redesigned around prevention across the whole of life: adult immunization, early detection, and the daily habits that keep people working and connected. Deciding how much prevention belongs inside publicly funded benefits is not a call health authorities can make alone; it takes a shared framework with finance ministries. Drawing on Japan's experience, including AHWIN and Tokyo's UHC Knowledge Hub, this session examines how to position prevention within policy and public finance, and how to design health financing that lasts, candidly including the decisions that came too late.