Where Health Meets Systems

Evidence, policy, and the economics of interconnected health…

Health is a shared system

Systems don’t eliminate costs; They redistribute them

Impacts neglected in one domain tend to re-emerge in others, manifesting as disease burden, economic costs, or systemic instability…

01

Interdependence

Health outcomes in humans, animals, and ecosystems are mutually dependent rather than independent. Changes in one domain alter exposure pathways, risks, and resilience in the others, making isolated interventions structurally incomplete.

02

Spillovers and Externalities

Health-related actions generate effects beyond their immediate target population. When these spillovers are not internalized—economically or institutionally—they reappear as disease burden, environmental degradation, or fiscal pressure elsewhere in the system.

03

Temporal Displacement

Costs and benefits in health systems are often shifted across time. Preventive failures tend to produce delayed but amplified consequences, transforming short-term savings into long-term health and economic losses.

04

Systemic Resilience

Health is shaped by the capacity of interconnected systems to absorb shocks and adapt. Fragmented governance weakens this capacity, while integrated approaches enhance robustness against pandemics, climate stress, and ecological disruption.