Feature
15 Jul 2025
Carrots, Sticks, and Systems Change: Financing the Shift to Preventive Health
Rypple’s co-founders, Ash Norman and Ushma Issar, were recently featured in the July issue of Catalyst:NOW, offering a powerful reflection on the urgent need to rewire global health financing toward prevention.
Their guest essay, titled “Carrots, Sticks, and Systems Change,” outlines how global health systems remain fundamentally designed for treatment rather than prevention—despite the growing burden of preventable diseases and the sharp contraction in global health funding.
As the World Health Organization renews its call for “sin taxes” and domestic revenue generation, Ash and Ushma argue that while tools like excise taxes are essential, true systems change will require upstream investment, fiscal reform, and new ways to value long-term wellbeing.
The article draws attention to recent aid cuts—including a proposed $9.4 billion rollback in U.S. global health funds—and highlights Rypple’s commitment to helping governments forecast preventive ROI, simulate health equity impacts, and build sustainable, prevention-first strategies.
“Prevention is no longer a luxury—it’s our best hope for a sustainable, equitable health future,” the authors write. “The question we must ask isn’t what will this cost? but what does it cost us not to act?”
![Carrots, Sticks, and Systems Change: Financing the Shift to Preventive Health [Guest Essay]](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/$s_!jcHp!,w_1200,h_600,c_fill,f_jpg,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep,g_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2Fa843c221-6168-45b1-8534-6ea897080493_5472x3648.jpeg)