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World Health Summit 2024: One billion US Dollars for WHO
Germany, the EU, numerous European countries, non-profit organizations and companies are pledging for global health
Berlin, October 14, 2024
At the largest donor event to date for the WHO Investment Round on Monday evening at the World Health Summit, pledges totalling 700 million US Dollars were made. This is in addition to 300 million US Dollars from the European Union, as well as the African Union, which had already been pledged in advance, bringing the total pledged amount to 1 billion US Dollars.
The pledging event “All for Health, Health for All: Signature Event for the WHO Investment Round” as part of the WHS 2024 in Berlin was attended by high-level speakers such as Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Chair of the Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, and Director-General of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. The event was opened by the three health ministers of the co-hosts Germany, France and Norway. Also present were the Prime Minister of Montenegro, government representatives from Greece, the Netherlands and Finland, as well as CEOs from non-profit organizations and the private sector. Among others, President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen and the Prime Ministers of Norway and Estonia took part via video.
A full list of the evening's speakers can be found here.
The WHO Investment Round is intended to help the WHO fulfill its “Health for All” mandate. With the funds raised through this new financing instrument, the WHO aims to prevent 40 million avoidable deaths caused by diseases over the next four years.
In his speech, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized the importance of the WHO: “The WHO’s work benefits us all. What it needs for this work is sustainable financing that gives it the certainty to plan ahead and the flexibility to react."
Bill Gates emphasized the importance of financing global health in order to achieve a healthier future for all: “Global challenges require global solutions.” Resources must be pooled, and cross-sector and cross-national expertise brought together. The Gates Foundation has supported global health institutions from the very beginning. Gates continued: “I think this is the best money I've ever spent. And I believe that the citizens of all donor countries should feel the same way.”
The CEO of the Wellcome Trust, a charitable foundation focused on health research, John-Arne Røttingen, emphasized the importance of strong multilateral agencies for cooperation between countries: “Now more than ever, the challenges any country faces are shared, often not only with neighbors but across regions or around the world.”
"The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that when health is at risk, everything is at risk," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. "Investments in WHO are therefore investments not only in protecting and promoting health, but also in more equitable, more stable and more secure societies and economies."
The President of the World Health Summit, Axel R. Pries stressed that the event would send a powerful signal of trust in multilateral cooperation: “The WHO is the most important global health institution for all of us – it requires stable and adequate financing. The World Health Summit is proud to contribute by staging the WHO Investment Round.”
At the World Health Summit 2024 under the motto “Building Trust for a Healthier World” over 3,500 participants and speakers from science, business, politics, civil society and international organizations from all over the world are on-site. On the third and final day, tomorrow, Tuesday, October 15, the focus will be on topics such as Mpox, and health in the context of climate change.
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