Save the date: 28 May 2026, Brussels Over the final phase of the Invest4Health project, partners are intensively strengthening and validating the foundations of Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI). Current work focuses on refining the business and financing models developed within the project, testing practical SCI tools together with regional partners, and consolidating lessons from real-world implementation. This includes documenting success stories, identifying operational challenges, and demonstrating how SCI enables investment not only in...

At the Radical Health Festival in Helsinki this January, Invest4Health joined policymakers, innovators, civil society leaders and financing actors to advance a shared agenda: rethinking how we finance precision health. Central to this discussion was a deeper challenge: redefining how Europe understands, governs, and funds health itself. If health is genuinely co-produced across sectors and local communities, then the implication is unavoidable: the “health system” can no longer be defined by institutions or budgets alone, but by function. In this...

We are proud to announce that a key scientific publication emerging from the Horizon Europe–funded Invest4Health project has been published in the European Journal of Health Economics.The article, Broadening sources of finance for health promotion and disease prevention: Smart Capacitating Investment, addresses one of the most persistent challenges in public health today: how to mobilise sufficient, sustainable resources for prevention and health promotion in a context dominated by treatment-focused spending. This publication represents a major...

At a recent Invest4Health workshop in Helsinki at the 18th European Public Health Conference, participants from policy, public health, research, and financing communities came together to explore how prevention can be designed and financed as a long-term investment. The workshop focused on translating the concept of Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI) into practical thinking and concrete action at the regional and local levels. The session was designed as an interactive working space rather than a traditional conference panel. After introductory...

Dear Reader, Invest4Health is a Horizon Europe project aimed at transforming the way we fund health promotion and disease prevention. We argue that treating these efforts as smart investments in people’s long-term well-being, rather than costs, can lead to stronger and more sustainable health systems. We aim to shift thinking by developing innovative investment models that support shared risk, pooled resources, and better outcomes. For this, the consortium is working closely with eight regional testbeds to co-develop and test SCI-compatible...

In response to the long-standing problems of reactive healthcare funding, made worse by economic crises, the COVID-19 pandemic, and ageing populations, I4H offers a new approach: treating health, especially prevention, as a smart, long-term investment rather than just a cost. Smart Capacitating Investments At the heart of this vision is Smart Capacitating Investment (SCI). Through SCI, the project is: Designing long-term, outcome-focused investment strategies Strengthening local capacity to test and scale innovative financing...

We have established a Citizen Patient Advisory Group (CPAG) to ensure that public voices are heard. The 11 members were selected through an open call and interviews. The group helps us understand the real-world impact of our project and provides advice on how to make health financing more effective and fair by also involving citizens’ views. CPAG is now actively engaged in several key areas of the project. Below are a few concrete examples of their involvement: Contributing to the Competence building programme for new testbeds Two CPAG...

Croeso i Gymru (Welcome to Wales) is a country in the southwest of the United Kingdom, bordered by England to the east and the Irish Sea to the west. Part of the UK, Wales has its own devolved government, the Senedd (Welsh Parliament), responsible for health, education, and transport. This means the National Health Service (NHS) in Wales is managed separately from services in England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The Welsh Government can set its own health policies, funding priorities, and service delivery models tailored to its population’s...

Professor Rhiannon Tudor Edwards, a key partner in the Invest4Health (I4H) project representing Bangor University, has published a forward-looking editorial in the Global Health Economics and Sustainability journal. Drawing on her 35-year career, Professor Edwards calls for a significant shift in health economics—from a narrow focus on healthcare services to a more “transdisciplinary” approach. This involves collaborating across economics, public health, climate science, and the social sciences to address our most pressing health challenges. These...

Invest4Health: Rethinking How We Fund Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Invest4Health (I4H) is a Horizon Europe-funded project that brings together 22 partners, including eight regional testbeds, to rethink how we fund health promotion and disease prevention. In response to the long-standing problems of reactive healthcare funding, worsened by economic crises, the COVID-19 pandemic, and ageing populations, I4H offers a new approach: treating health, and, especially prevention, as a smart, long-term investment instead of just a cost. Smart...