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The McKinsey Health Institute and the World Economic Forum team up to support healthier workforces worldwide

August 20, 2024 – The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) in collaboration with the Health Innovation Exchange (HIEx), the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and Fiocruz today published a new report identifying how climate change is projected to negatively impact human health and what interventions are well-positioned to ease its effects.

With the World Health Organization identifying climate change as “the greatest threat to global health in the 21st century,” and existing solutions remaining immature, the time is now for innovative climate adaptation. However, these opportunities are largely untapped by the global health community.

The report identifies three priorities to address climate-related health challenges and help secure a livable and sustainable future for all:

  1. Innovation in products and technologies that seek to reduce the burden of climate change on health.
  2. Enhanced climate-health surveillance, early warning and response systems to support climate-informed emergency preparedness.
  3. Increased climate resilience of healthcare infrastructure, supply chains, and workforce to build capacity and capabilities that effectively respond to climate-induced shocks.

“On the pathway we’re on, focusing on mitigation alone will not suffice,” said Claudia von Hammerstein, report author and Sustainability & Health Leader at the McKinsey Health Institute. “We need to accelerate adaptation as well.”

"The fundamental building blocks of healthcare is being wiped out by climate change," said Pradeep Kakkattil, report author and CEO of the Health Innovation Exchange. "You see the shift that is happening, which is undermining everything that the health system has built over the last four to five decades. So for us, what we are saying is you need to act; you need to act now. We don’t have a choice."

"When you talk with the government and other partners, one of the problems is that they all know that climate is a problem and we have to do something with it, but we don't know how to do it," said Jae Kyoun Kim, report author and Health Specialist at the Asian Development Bank. "This report has a lot of good innovations, skills, and practical interventions that we can adapt."

"To focus on the vulnerable situations and make it better, that's one of the important aspects," said Guto Galvao, report author and Senior Researcher at Fiocruz. "Homelessness is a situation that is now everywhere in the world. The homeless, and the people who work in the streets, are the ones most exposed to the elements and they are the most vulnerable. We need to be open to talk as everybody and bring all the voices in one place."

Read the full report: mckinsey.com/mhiclimateadaptation. For interviews with the authors, please contact mhi_media@mckinsey.com.

McKinsey Health Institute Healthy Workforces Coleaders Barbara Jeffery and Jacqueline Brassey and World Economic Forum Head of Health and Wellness Andy Moose discuss how MHI and the Forum are collaborating to improving the holistic health of employees, their families, and their communities.

“With more than 60 percent of the working-age population around the world employed, employers have a significant role to play in preventing poor employee health and supporting employees to improve their health and well-being” said Barbara Jeffery, MHI’s Coleader of Healthy Workforces and partner at McKinsey & Company. “We are proud to collaborate with the Forum on its Healthy Workforces initiative to give employers the evidence, tools, and conviction they need to take action, so they can positively impact employees, their communities, and the economies in which they operate.”

“It is important to establish a better understanding of the importance and the business case for healthy workforces,” said Andy Moose, the Forum’s Head of Health and Wellness. “Eventually, this should be top of mind for every senior executive, board member, and investor. We were excited by MHI’s research and ambition and look forward to progressing together towards our joint goal of making a material difference to how employers view and invest in their workforces.”

MHI and the Forum launched its collaboration by co-hosting a high-level side-event during the 77th World Health Assembly, uniting leading thinkers, decision-makers, and stakeholders from diverse industries and regions with a shared mission to accelerate and enhance the holistic health and well-being of workforces. This meeting aimed to serve as a catalyst to forge collaborative pathways towards solutions that prioritize holistic health and well-being for the workforce, on an individual, employer, community, and national level. Participants agreed on the importance of multi-stakeholder collaborations and the dual benefits to both human health and businesses through increased investments in workforce well-being. The event inspired seeing the potential to advance collective action toward better health and well-being across workforces, communities, and societies.

“While our life expectancy is increasing, we need to focus on improving the quality of life in these years, said Jacqueline Brassey, MHI’s Coleader of Healthy Workforces and Director of Research Science.  “That is why we are delighted to have this collaboration with the Forum that we now kicked-off with a valuable side-event during the World Health Assembly. When employee health is prioritized holistically, at all levels of an organization, this enables healthier employees, workforces, organizations, society. Everyone will benefit.”

Read more details about MHI’s work on Healthy Workforces here.

McKinsey Health Institute
The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) is an enduring, non-profit-generating entity within the firm. MHI believes, over the next decade, humanity could add as much as 45 billion extra years of higher-quality life, which is roughly six years per person on average — and substantially more in some countries and populations. MHI’s mission is to catalyze the actions needed across continents, sectors, and communities to realize this possibility.
Learn more about MHI's approach
World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is the International Organization for Public-Private Cooperation. It provides a global, impartial and not-for-profit platform for meaningful connection between stakeholders to establish trust, and build initiatives for cooperation and progress. The Forum’s commitment on facilitating progress on systemic challenges is taken forward through its 10 Centres, each applying the institution’s unique combination of impact methods to drive holistic efforts. The Centres build communities of purpose essential to addressing large-scale global challenges.

The World Economic Forum's Centre for Health and Healthcare is an impartial global platform helping to shape the future of health worldwide by creating space and providing tools for partnership. The Centre is dedicated to building robust, efficient, and fair healthcare systems. It connects communities, regions, and industries to create new synergies and elevate a ‘health first’ approach across sectors.

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