Espacio fiscal para el financiamiento sostenible de los sistemas de salud y la salud universal

The articles published in this series show that it is possible to create fiscal space for health in the countries. This requires specific decisions since economic growth is not enough to generate the additional resources needed. The studies analyze the benefit of reviewing the tax expenditures to identify exemptions — generally outdated and of low benefit for the countries —; arguments to increase taxes on products harmful to health; and credits and donations, which do not result in a viable source of income for governments. Fiscal efforts must be accompanied by an improvement in efficiency, and the progressive creation of new revenues is key to improving equity. It is necessary to improve the collection of fiscal resources. To this end, it is necessary to develop a research and action agenda that understands the analysis of the fiscal space inserted in the processes of transformation and reform of health systems, including the technical aspects not yet addressed and studies of the social efficiency of the fiscal space for major development objectives such as the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. In the countries of the Region of the Americas it is essential to have efficient management to do more and better with more resources, even during adverse economic cycles. This should be evident at all levels, including solidarity for achieving better health outcomes, strategic purchase of health goods and services, and strengthening of budget planning systems.