Newsletter 04/2023: WHS Regional Meeting Recap, Global Health Dialogues, Change in WHS Leadership

Dear friends,

This April, the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2023 took place in Washington DC, which helped strengthen transatlantic partnerships, provided a great platform for emerging leaders, and added valuable North and South American perspectives. The Regional Meeting was surrounded by other global health and development meetings, including the World Bank / IMF Spring Meetings.

We are grateful to our hosts, George Washington University Milken Institute of Public Health, Consortium of Universities for Global Health, and Association of Academic Health Centers International, for organizing a tremendous meeting. A very special Thank-You goes to the current WHS International President Adnan Hyder and his team for making this successful event happen.

International cooperation and recognition of different perspectives and priorities towards sustainable improvements in health are at the center of the World Health Summit approach. To bring together international voices on pressing global health issues throughout the year, the World Health Summit is hosting a series of exclusive “Global Health Dialogues”. The first event in 2023 took place this week. In addition to stakeholders from academia, politics, civil society, and industry, a particular focus lay on inviting ambassadors from countries such as those holding the G7, G20, and European Union Council presidencies, to report on their countries’ action plans for global health. Read the central takeaways below. 

On a final note, we are saying good-bye to the World Health Summit’s managing director of the past 10 years, Jörg Heldmann. During this very dynamic period, he significantly shaped the World Health Summit and developed it to where we are now. Thank you from the whole WHS team and on behalf of the M8 Alliance for the many great years of leadership! We wish you all the best for your new challenges!  

Stay safe and healthy!

What a day for global health! Packed with interesting insights, inspiring speeches, and stimulating conversations, the World Health Summit Regional Meeting 2023 in Washington, DC, USA on April 13 highlighted the essential role of evidence-based science for the development of global health policy. Under the theme of "Bridging the Science to Policy Gap for Global Health" 400+ participants on-site and 40 speakers discussed crucial global health topics. "Meet me at the top" was the title of the music performance at the opening ceremony and became a catchy motto. It was the first World Health Summit event opened by a hip-hop act (you can get a glimpse here).

The one-day meeting hosted ten sessions on issues such as global health in a political world, gender and power, climate change and pandemics, racism in global health, and many more.

Thank you to the hosts and organizers, US-based M8 Alliance members George Washington University, CUGH, AAHCI, and especially to WHS International President 2023 Adnan Hyder and his team for the hard work to make this wonderful meeting happen. Thank you also to all sponsors and supporters for helping realize the first WHS Regional Meeting in the United States. 

Find all information as well as impressions from Washington, DC on the WHS Regional Meeting webpage

Regional Meeting 2023 Takeaways: 

"If we put health and equity at the heart of all policies we can gain societal trust that we desperately need."
Hans Kluge, Regional Director Europe, World Health Organization (WHO) 

"Despite the progress made, health remains an unfulfilled promise for many people in the Americas."
Jarbas Barbosa, Director, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) 

"Without trust, without cohesion, there will be no success when it comes to global health in a globalized world."
Axel R. Pries, President, World Health Summit

Session Recordings:

If you missed the WHS Regional Meeting 2023, you can rewatch all sessions on the World Health Summit YouTube channel. 

In the Media: 

Media reports on the WHS Regional Meeting 2023 and further current media coverage can be found here

Speaker Confirmations 

Visit the speaker page on our website to get the latest overview of who will be speaking at WHS 2023. 

Central Topics

- Accelerating Progress Towards Universal Health Coverage
- G7/G20 Measures to Enhance Global Health Equity and Security
- Sustainable Health for People and Planet
- Learning from COVID-19 for Future Pandemic Preparedness and Response
- Harnessing the Power of Digital Technologies for Global Health
- Shaping Global Health Architecture and Financing

Check out our website to find out about the latest news on WHS 2023.

Read the WHS 2023 press info

See the World Health Summit 2023 At a Glance

Under the motto "2023: A Defining Year for Global Health Action and Rethinking the Global Health Landscape", the World Health Summit resumed its series of "Global Health Dialogues." The event series intends to bring diverse global health actors together in Berlin to discuss a wide range of global health issues in an exclusive and intimate setting. It serves as a deep dive into selected central topics of the World Health Summit 2023 program. 

The central question of the evening was how to sustainably improve the global health landscape in different regions of the world. The ambassadors of the G7 and G20 presidencies, Japan and India, were invited to present their countries' global health priorities, while the French ambassador added a European perspective. 

For more information, pictures, and a list of participants, take a look on our WHS Global Health Dialogues page. 

Who’s behind the World Health Summit? Let's introduce members of the Berlin office. Here is part two: 

Check out the next newsletter to meet more team members and visit our website to view all.

Check out the latest info, recent projects, and upcoming events on the Charité Center for Global Health website

World Health Summit 2023 

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