The Problem
Behavioural and metabolic risk factors account for nearly half of all global disability-adjusted life years, with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) bearing a disproportionate and growing share of this burden. Despite the numerous epidemiological and fiscal arguments in favour of proactive rather than reactive policy interventions, preventive health remains chronically underfunded across the Global South, structurally disadvantaged by annual budget cycles that reward immediate expenditure over long-horizon returns.
The Central Argument
This paper argues that reframing prevention as a central fiscal governance instrument, rather than a mere component of health spending, is both warranted and feasible. The overarching thesis is that health outcomes follow financing structures, and that the fiscal architecture of prevention spending in the Global South requires deliberate reform if epidemiological trends are to be altered at the pace that the scale of the burden demands.