Dear friends and global health advocates,

The World Health Summit 2023 was crucial in many ways. We welcomed more than 3,000 participants on-site, over 12,000 online, and 370 speakers from all over the world.

The motto of this year’s World Health Summit "A Defining Year for Global Health Action" stands for our responsibility as the worldwide global health community, which is even more important in times of wars, terrorism and increasing international tensions: We have to strengthen the spirit of international cooperation working for humanism and life on earth.

Together we have to generate a positive example how a 'team earth' can be built. More trust within and between nations and strong multinational cooperation is required to achieve significant progress in universal health coverage and in tackling the climate crisis.

This year's World Health Summit focused on imminent health threats worldwide but at the same time was able to spread hope: The dedication and commitment of so many diverse actors, including youth representatives, government officials, civil society and private sector actors, was encouraging. And many of them were female: We are proud to have welcomed more women than men on stage and in the audience.

The World Health Summit 2023 with its 63 sessions, more than 50 side events, in-depth discussions, and extensive networking is behind us, the tasks however lie ahead. Let's continue working together to make health a high priority on the political agenda. Health is both a prerequisite and an indicator for humanism.  

WHS 2023 in Numbers

- 3,100 participants on-site in Berlin
- 12,000 participants online
- 370 speakers from 64 countries and territories
- 52% female speaker, 48% male speakers
- 63 sessions
- 20 ministers from around the world
- 50+ side events 
- 92 hours of broadcasting time
- 37,000 views of all session videos on World Health Summit and WHO YouTube channels as of Oct. 31
- 1,000 reports in international media
- 900 new Twitter/X followers in October 
- 1,600 new LinkedIn followers in October
- 80,000 website visits of www.worldhealthsummit.org in October
- 4,200 photos taken
- 4,000 program books printed
- Countless conversations, discussions, encounters between new and longtime partners and friends 
 

Session Recordings

Rewatch all 63 WHS 2023 sessions here

Gender Balance

At the WHS 2023, there were more female speakers than male speakers: 52% women, 48% men. Among the participants, 55% indicated to be female and 44% male. 

Insights and Opinions

More than 350 speakers shared their expertise at the WHS 2023 - read various quotes on our website and follow us on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, or Instagram for more.

On the occasion of the launch of the new edition of Health: A Political Choice - From Fragmentation to Integration at the WHS 2023, contributors spoke about the greatest needs, successes and challenges in global health. Watch their videos, including World Health Summit president Axel R. Pries, here.
 

Selected Speeches

Read some of the WHS 2023 speeches on our website. 
 

Launches and Announcements

During the WHS 2023, more than 50 partner events, side events, announcements, and launches took place. The Global Financing Facility pledging event, where USD 445 million of funding were announced was one of them. The WHS 2023 also hosted the launches of the Equity 2030 Alliance and of the Community Health Delivery Partnership. 

Find details and more special events here

Brandenburg Gate Illuminated for 75 Years of WHO

On the first day of the WHS 2023 - and final day of the Festival of Lights in Berlin - we celebrated WHO's 75th anniversary with a fantastic illumination at the Brandenburg Gate. At WHS 2023, the key session World Health Organization: 75 Years of Striving for Health for All highlighted the past success stories as well as current and future challenges of WHO. 

Check out the video of the illumination at Brandenburg Gate for WHO75

Social Media 

More than 400,000 impressions, 7,000 interactions, over 3,000 likes on Twitter/X, 115,000 impressions, more than 11,000 interactions and more than 3,000 reactions on LinkedIn - these are some of the World Health Summit social media statistics during October, the month of #WHS2023. Speakers and program were featured on Twitter/X, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. 

In the Media

The World Health Summit 2023 was featured in media outlets around the world, e.g., Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Daily Mail, Devex, Tagesspiegel, The Brussels Times, The Tribune India, Agence Congolaise de Presse, and many more. See selected media coverage here.

Read more on media attention, media quotes, press releases, social media highlights and website reach, ads, and our media partners in this year's media report.
 

Photos

Our photographers took more than 4,000 photos - for impressions and a look behind the scenes, visit our gallery.

Conference Film

A video recapping the WHS 2023 with images, interviews and insights is in the making and will be released very soon. Stay tuned on the WHS social media channels to be among the first ones to watch it. In the meantime: Watch "WHS 2023 in 90 seconds" video impressions here.

Graphic Recording

Check out a time lapse of the graphic recording which was drawn live at the WHS 2023 highlighting the key messages from various sessions. 

Partners

The World Health Summit brings together stakeholders from all sectors and all regions of the world to set the agenda for a healthier future. Thank you to all World Health Summit 2023 partners!
 

High Patrons

Thank you to the patrons of the World Health Summit 2023 Olaf Scholz, Chancellor of Germany, Emmanuel Macron, President of the French Republic, and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO).

The Baton Goes to Australia from the United States

Change of the World Health Summit International Presidency: During the World Health Summit 2023, the traditional baton was passed on from George Washington University Milken Institute for Public Health, the Consortium of Universities for Global Health (CUGH), and the Association of Academic Health Centers International (AAHCI) to Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

Thank you to the organizers in Washington DC and WHS International President 2023 Adnan Hyder for putting on a fantastic Regional Meeting 2023. Welcome to the new WHS International President 2024 Sophia Zoungas and her team from Monash University - we are all looking forward to the WHS Regional Meeting in Melbourne in April 2024!

Visit the Regional Meeting 2024 page for details

Meet the Next Regional Meeting Host

Monash University is a founding member of the M8 Alliance and Australia’s largest university - with 86,000 students, 17,000 staff, and more than 440,000 alumni. Monash has six Australian campuses, international teaching locations in Malaysia, Indonesia, China, India, and Italy and more than 100 partner universities across the globe.
Read more
 

Meet the World Health Summit International Presidents 2024

At the M8 Alliance Assembly during the World Health Summit 2023, three new members were admitted to the network: Aga Khan University from Pakistan and two institutions from India: Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE) and NIMS University.

The M8 Alliance now has 31 members around the world. Welcome to the three new members - we look forward to your impact within the M8 Alliance!