By Valéria Credidio – Ascom/LAIS

For every R$ 1.00 invested in health, R$ 1.70 is generated for the economy. The information was provided by the general coordinator of health economics of the Ministry of Health, Everton Macedo, responsible for the closing lecture of the 3rd International Conference on Innovation in Health. The speech was part of the lecture “Digital health and the health economy: where we are and perspectives for the future”, which closed the three-day event.

During the conference, Macedo emphasized some of the goals that need to be achieved, such as equity in the distribution of resources, efficiency, and transparency of the entire process. “We have to pursue efficiency, but without hindering access. And this, many times, is difficult to achieve”, he pointed out.

An example cited by the speaker concerns the care provided by the public health system to people who are vulnerable and exposed to a greater number of diseases. At the same time, these people have no way to finance their own treatments, and need free care.

This is why cost reduction is so important, because there is a need to generate sustainability in health spending, both from the perspective of revenues and expenses, given the demographic transition. “The resource needs to be applied to reduce vulnerability. And applied where there will be a greater benefit for everyone,” he concluded.