Health outcomes are often understood through healthcare systems, service delivery, and public policy. However, some of the most powerful influences on health lie further upstream–in how capital is generated, controlled, and deployed within the global financial system.

At the core of this system are a relatively small number of actors who influence how financial resources flow across sectors and geographies. Private wealth holders and asset managers determine where large pools of capital are allocated. Banks and financial institutions translate these resources into economic activity through lending, investment, and risk assessment. At the same time, governments operate within financial constraints shaped by global capital markets, debt conditions, and access to funding.

These dynamics are not always visible from within the health sector, yet they shape which industries expand, which innovations are funded, and which populations gain or lack access to essential goods and services. Increasing concentration of wealth and financial power adds another layer of influence, with ultra–high–net–worth individuals and large financial actors playing a significant role in shaping global economic priorities.

Understanding how capital flows through this system–and how decisions are made at each stage–is critical to understanding how health outcomes and inequalities are produced. This session focuses on unpacking these mechanisms, tracing the movement of capital from origin to deployment, and examining how these processes shape health-relevant

Key issues:
1. Capital Origin: Who Controls Financial Flows

• How do private wealth holders and asset managers decide where capital is allocated?
• What determines whether sectors or activities are considered “investable”?
• How does concentration of wealth influence global economic priorities?

2. Capital Deployment: How Financial Systems Shape Economic Activity

• How do banks and financial institutions determine where capital flows in practice?
• How are risks assessed, priced, and managed across sectors and geographies?
• Where do gaps emerge between demand for financing and actual capital allocation?

3. System Constraint: Public Finance and Policy Space

• How do global financial conditions affect government fiscal capacity?
• What determines what governments are able–or unable–to finance in health and related sectors?
• How do public and private financial systems interact to shape outcomes?

4. Cross-Cutting: Implications for Health – Distribution of Value, Risks, and Access

• How do patterns of capital allocation influence which health-related sectors, services, and innovations are funded–and which are not?
• Where do mismatches emerge between financial flows and population health needs, particularly across countries and income groups?
• How are costs, risks, and benefits related to health distributed across populations as a result of financial system dynamics?
• What forms of inclusion and exclusion in access to health services and products are reinforced through these financial mechanisms