Health care systems around the world remain under immense and growing pressure. New and intensifying challenges have emerged: rapidly ageing populations, rising prevalence of chronic diseases, increasing mental health concerns, healthcare workforce shortages, and the health effects of climate change—all while geopolitical conflicts and economic instability drive up costs and complicate cross-border cooperation.

In many countries, health care costs are soaring due to inflation, technological investment, and the increasing demand for both curative and preventive services. At the same time, disparities in access to healthcare between and within countries are widening. Debates around the role of public versus private funding, and the right to health care as a fundamental human right, have become more urgent in light of strained public budgets and global migration flows. This challenge also touches upon individual accountability and responsibility for paying for health care, and the human right access to proper and affordable health care.

This complex challenge demands an interdisciplinary approach, bringing together insights from medicine, health sciences, economics, law, public policy, ethics, sociology, anthropology, organizational studies and beyond.

Potential angles of inquiry include:

• The role of AI and digital health technologies (e.g., telemedicine, wearable health monitors, predictive analytics) in improving cost-efficiency and access to care—without compromising patient autonomy or privacy.

• The growing mental health crisis among youth and the elderly, and how systems can be adapted to meet these needs.

• The effects of climate change on public health (e.g., heat stress, vector-borne diseases, displacement) and the healthcare system’s resilience in facing such stressors.

• Workforce retention, burnout and the redesign of healthcare professions in the face of global shortages.

• Financing models: what balance between public and private responsibility ensures both sustainability and equity?

• The emergence of “health ecosystems,” where collaboration between traditional healthcare institutions and sectors such as tech, retail, fitness, and social care may offer innovative service delivery models. What motivates these actors to engage, and what are the ethical and economic implications?

• Cross-border cooperation in healthcare amidst geopolitical instability, migration and humanitarian crises.

The emphasis in this challenge lies not only in identifying what is not working, but also in envisioning how health care can evolve to become more inclusive, adaptable, and future-proof.