Each year global politicians, corporate executives, healthcare experts, and academics come together at the World Health Summit (WHS) to discuss current concerns in healthcare.
Each year global corporate executives, healthcare experts, and academics come together at the World Health Summit (WHS) to discuss current concerns in healthcare. In 2009, to honor the 300th anniversary of Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, when the World Health Summit was established. This year the summit took place in Berlin, Germany, from October 16th to 18th, at the Hotel Berlin, Central District. The World Health Summit and the World Health Organization (WHO) jointly hosted the flagship global health conference, which was open to all nations and involved all sectors of society.
Olaf Scholz, the German chancellor, gave the first opening keynote, welcoming the participants to Berlin. In his speech, the chancellor makes a case for using the Covid-19 pandemic to advise intelligent decisions. Correspondingly, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated that all nations should adopt a new approach to promoting health and preventing disease by realizing that health begins outside of hospitals and clinics, in places like homes, streets, schools, and places of employment. He also underlined, “Just as the pandemic exposed political vulnerabilities, it also exposed technical and operational vulnerabilities in the world’s collective ability to prevent, detect, and respond to outbreaks and epidemics. It’s clear we need new and better tools to build a new and better architecture.” And that access to health care is a basic human right, not a luxury.
He was followed by the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres who stated that global health security and readiness need to be strengthened through sustained political commitment and leadership. Moreover, “physical and mental health are the foundation for peaceful, sustainable societies. […] All people need inclusive, impartial, and equitable access to health services to deliver universal health coverage.”
All people need inclusive, impartial, and equitable access to health services to deliver universal health coverage.”
“Making the choice for health” was the topic of this year’s World Health Summit, which sought to advance global well-being by encouraging open discussion of critical healthcare issues. Experts from around the world gathered to discuss key issues such as climate change and planetary health, pandemic preparedness, digital transformation for health, food systems and health, health systems resilience and equity, and global health for peace. These topics were critical in helping world citizens improve global health and well-being for people everywhere.
The objective was accomplished by bringing together leaders from various sectors who are seeking better solutions on how to share their knowledge or contribute their skills with communities that will most urgently benefit given the current situation while also encouraging international cooperation when necessary so that no group feels left out because every single person counts! Prominent keynote speaker and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, thanked the people of Germany for their efforts in the polio eradication effort.
“The health crisis is closely connected to the planetary crisis. We must tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution threatening the well-being and survival of people around the world,”
The WHS bravely raised issues, including the climate catastrophe and vaccination concerns, when they were interrupted by scientists’ rebellion activists. “The health crisis is closely connected to the planetary crisis. We must tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution threatening the well-being and survival of people around the world,” emphasized Steffi Lemke, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Nuclear Safety, and Consumer Protection, Germany
Throughout the conference, there was a strong emphasis on collaboration across sectors and regions to find effective solutions to the many pressing health challenges facing our world today. There was a strong focus on building partnerships that fostered open dialogue between different countries, organizations, and individuals working towards a common goal of ensuring better health for everyone. Charles Michel, President of the European Council, closed his speech with, “Public health must never again be allowed to slip down the agenda of global challenges. Our health is our life. It is all our lives. And we must treat it with the necessary respect and collective commitment. That is why we are all here today to strive for a fairer and healthier world. Thank you for your attention, and I wish you well in your endeavors.”
Overall, the Berlin World Health Summit was a tremendous success in bringing together more than 100 nations, 400 speakers, and 6000 participants from across the globe to work towards improving global health for all. Through insightful discussions and concrete action plans, with room for critics, citizens of the world can now look forward with optimism to a brighter future where everyone has access to quality healthcare services that meet their needs. The city of Berlin, packed with the international delegation for three days, looks forward to hosting WHS again next year.
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