World Health Summit 2024 kicked off: “Building Trust for a Healthier World” 

Experts from around the world meet in Berlin at the leading global health forum 

Berlin, October 13, 2024 
On Sunday morning, the 16th annual World Health Summit started in Berlin. For three days, the event will focus on the future of global health under the motto: “Building Trust for a Healthier World”. More than 350 speakers and over 3,500 participants from around the world are expected to attend, including numerous ministers, government officials and representatives from science, the private sector, civil society and international organizations. 

The official WHS Opening Night with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Heyo K. Kroemer, CEO of Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Axel R. Pries, World Health Summit President, and others takes place at 6:00 PM CEST.

Details

The central event of the WHS 2024 is on Monday, 14., at 6:00 PM CEST. The presentation of the WHO Investment Round “All for Health, Health for All: Signature Event for the WHO Investment Round”, the largest international pledging moment so far for the WHO Investment Round. Among the confirmed speakers are Chancellor Olaf Scholz, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation and John-Arne Røttingen, CEO of Wellcome Trust. Numerous health ministers from various countries, including Germany, Norway, and France, are also expected to attend.  

Details

On this first day of WHS 2024, the focus is on topics like health crises. 

Federal Minister of Health Karl Lauterbach emphasized the importance of speaking with one voice: “For us, the brokers of scientific knowledge, we have to speak the same language.” 

Jeremy Farrar, Chief Scientist of the World Health Organization (WHO) called for consistent and sustained efforts to build trust, highlighting its fragile nature: “Trust is also built in years and can be lost in an instant. You don’t build trust on a Tuesday when you want it. You build trust by providing good things for people, every Monday, every Tuesday, every Wednesday and not just in a crisis.” 

Further WHS 2024 speakers include

• Svenja Schulze, Federal Minister of Economic Cooperation and Development, Germany
• Jan Christian Vestre, Minister of Health, Norway
• Geneviève Darrieussecq, Minister of Health, France
• Khumbize Kandodo Chiponda, Minister of Health, Malawi
• Spyridon-Adonis Georgiadis, Minister of Health, Greece
• Sania Nishtar, CEO, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance
• Elhadj As Sy, Chair, Kofi Annan Foundation
• Christian Drosten, Director, Institute of Virology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin
• Peter Sands, Executive Director, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria
• Victor J. Dzau, President, National Academy of Medicine (NAM)
• Karen DeSalvo, Chief Health Officer, Google
• Richard Horton, Editor-in-Chief, The Lancet

More speakers

Monday, October 14

11:00 AM - 12:30 PM
KEY 01:
- 30 Years of the ICPD Agenda - 30th anniversary of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

- Inauguration of the WomenX Collective Berlin Hub

More info

12:30 PM - 1:30 PM
PD 09a: Launch of the GPMB Pandemic Risk Report
Hosts: Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB)

More info

6:00 PM - 7:30 PM
All for Health, Health for All: Signature Event for the WHO Investment Round

The central event of WHS 2024 is the presentation of the WHO Investment Round “All for Health, Health for All: Signature Event for the WHO Investment Round” on Monday, October 14, 6:00 PM. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Bill Gates, Chair of the Gates Foundation have confirmed their attendance. This new financing instrument is co-hosted by Germany, France and Norway, among others.

More info

In case you couldn’t make it to Berlin: Join the World Health Summit 2024 online for free, links and all info on the program are available on www.worldhealthsummit.org.

In case you missed a speaker or a session: Rewatch it all on YouTube.

Share your impressions and opinions on #WHS2024 on X, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram

WHS 2024 brings together stakeholders from politics, science, the private sector, and civil society from around the world to set the agenda for a healthier future and well-being for all. Held under the patronage of German Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, French President Emmanuel Macron, and WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, more than 350 speakers in over 60 sessions are discussing new strategies for global health and set the agenda for a healthier future and well-being for all. 

Central Topics include pandemic threats and responses, mpox, health equity, climate change and health, artificial intelligence, antimicrobial resistance and financing global health. The World Health Summit strengthens exchange, stimulates innovative solutions to health challenges, fosters global health as a key political issue, and promotes the global health debate in the spirit of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.