Dear friends,

In times like these, solidarity and international cooperation regardless of all borders is more important than ever. 

The M8 Alliance, our unique multilateral partnership of 28 leading  Academic Health Centers, Universities and 141 National Academies around the world within the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP) foster knowledge exchange and cooperation to find solutions to the current global health crisis. The M8 Alliance has a clear view for a worldwide strategy in managing this pandemic: accurate communication is crucial, cooperation not competition is key. Also the M8 Alliance expresses its support for and solidarity with the WHO: "Its mission to promote health, keep the world safe and serve the vulnerable is fully in the focus of the M8 Alliance and its work."

The M8 Alliance statement on the crucial role of WHO is worth reading and sharing.

Also important information are the announcements by our M8 Alliance member, the InterAcademy Partnership (IAP). The Call for Global Solidarity on COVID-19 Pandemic can be found on our COVID-19 Platform with additional scientific insights from our M8 Alliance members.

Encouraging developments are taking place in many countries: in Germany: the Federal Ministry for Education and Research is supporting the formation of a research network for medical universities to improve collaboration in the fight against COVID-19. Our M8 Alliance member Charité in Berlin has taken on a leadership role in this.

Crucial times like these show that science has to take responsibility and that political action has to be based on scientific facts. "Just a few weeks ago, few politicians would have stood next to a scientist and asked for advice in front of rolling cameras. Now politicians hardly ever face the press without a scientist at their side“, we just wrote in a recently published article in the German newspaper Der Tagesspiegel. 

Dear friends, a meeting like the World Health Summit where international experts from academia, politics, the private sector, and civil society come together to find solutions to global health challenges could not be more important. 

For the World Health Summit in October in Berlin, we plan a program addressing the enormous challenges with suitable formats.

Stay safe and healthy

The Federal Ministry of Education and Research has initiated a Global Health Research Alliance and we are encouraging you to become a member.

Germany shows great humanitarian commitment and is increasingly committed to global health policy - it has rightly made global health a strategic priority. Apart from financial funding and political leadership, the contribution in the field of global health should be based on specialist knowledge: This is above all very good, relevant science like biomedical research, public health, social sciences and humanities, engineering etc. 

If you are affiliated to a German public academic or research organization and are involved in global health research, please apply here: https://researchdirectory.globalhealth.de/registration

Digital solutions are a very important element in fighting the COVID-19 crisis. In order to also offer solutions in resource-poor areas, the Luxembourg government provides free access to its platform SATMED with which our M8 Alliance member Charité also works in Global Health projects.

Find out more here

For latest data, check out the COVID-19 map of our M8 Alliance partner Johns Hopkins.

One of the central topics of this year’s summit is of course “Pandemic Preparedness in the Age of Covid-19: Global Cooperation Not Competition.” We will also take a deep look at “Strengthening the Role of the European Union in Global Health” and “Accelerating the SDG3 Global Action Plan for Health And Well-Being.”

We are honored that two of our Patrons, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, and WHO Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will be speaking this year. The Covid-19 experts Christian Drosten, Director of the Institute of Virology at Charité, Michael Ryan, Executive Director of the WHO Health Emergencies Program, Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of UNAIDS, and Peter Piot, Director at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, are among the list of our confirmed speakers as well as Jens Spahn, Germany’s Federal Minister of Health.