Building the political case for investing in public health and public health research

Abstract

Governments around the world vastly underinvest in public health, despite ever growing evidence demonstrating its economic and social benefits. Challenges in securing greater public health investment largely stem from the necessity for governments to demonstrate visible impacts within an election cycle, whereas public health initiatives operate over the long term and generally involve prevention, statistical lives and underlying conditions. It is time for the public health community to rethink its strategies and craft political wins by building a political case for investing in public health—which extends far beyond mere economic and social arguments. These strategies need to make public health visible, account for the complexities of policymaking networks and adapt knowledge translation efforts to the appropriate policy instrument.