Commercial actors and market forces play a central role in shaping the conditions in which people live, work and consume, with profound implications for population health, equity and planetary sustainability. Commercial systems influence health not only through specific products or services, but through broader practices such as marketing, data governance, labor conditions, supply chains, and the shaping of social norms. These dynamics impact health outcomes directly, as seen by the increasing rates of noncommunicable diseases, and through the impact on environmental and labor conditions. At the same time, commercial actors provide essential goods, services, infrastructure, technologies, and employment that are critical for economic development and health system functioning.

Recent global evidence, including the 2023 Lancet Series on the Commercial Determinants of Health, underscores that health harms are not simply the result of a small number of ‘bad actors’, but are deeply shaped by governance structures and economic incentives that reward short-term profit while externalizing social and health costs. Weak regulatory capacity, fragmented accountability, conflicts of interest, and asymmetries of power between public institutions and large commercial entities have limited governments’ ability to steer markets towards public benefit. In many contexts, health objectives remain subordinate to trade, finance and industrial priorities, while regulatory capture, litigation threats, and misinformation campaigns further constrain public policy space.

At the same time, there is growing recognition that markets are not inherently health-harming or health-promoting: they are shaped by rules, norms, institutions and incentives. Well-designed governance can curb harmful commercial practices, protect policymaking from undue influence, and redirect commercial activity toward health-promoting pathways. Emerging approaches such as Health in All Policies, conflict-of-interest management tools, and health-oriented investment and financing frameworks illustrate how governance can align economic activity with societal wellbeing. Further, fragmented service delivery ecosystems—often with significant private sector provision—require deliberate system design to align incentives with equity and quality.

This plenary responds to the need to move beyond problem diagnosis and toward practical lessons on how governance mechanisms and institutions can shape commercial behavior in ways that reduce harm and promote health. Drawing on global experiences, the session will explore how governments, commercial actors, global health institutions, civil society and communities can collectively reframe the role of markets, balancing profit with health, equity and sustainability.

Key Content Areas

• Governance mechanisms that shape commercial behaviour, including regulation, fiscal policies, procurement, standard-setting, and institutional accountability at global, national and sub-national levels.
• Managing conflicts of interest, corporate political activity, and mis- and disinformation in policymaking and market governance.
• Incentive structures and economic policies encourage health-promoting commercial innovation while discouraging harmful practices.
• Public–private partnerships and cross-sectoral governance models that balance public interest safeguards with constructive engagement of commercial actors.
• Lessons from global experiences in governing commercial systems across sectors such as food, energy, digital technologies, and health products.