The “World Health Summit” in Berlin is currently bringing together thousands of participants from all over the world. It’s about health, research, climate, politics, society – also money. And Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke out in favor of more international cooperation in health care.
For the World Health Organization, the largest donor event to date for its funding round is a success: commitments totaling $700 million were made on Monday evening. In addition, there is 300 million US dollars from the European Union and the African Union, among others, which have already been promised in advance. The funds now guaranteed amount to a total of one billion US dollars, currently around 917,300,000 euros.
Die Geberveranstaltung „All for Health, Health for All: Signature Event for the WHO Investment Round“ fand im Rahmen des World Health Summit (WHS) took place in Berlin in 2024 – and was top-class occupied. In addition to Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director General, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) and Bill Gates, Chairman of the Gates Foundation, took part.
The event was opened by the health ministers of the three co-hosts Germany, Norway – and France’s health minister. Also involved were the Prime Minister of Montenegro, government representatives from Greece, the Netherlands and Finland as well as CEOs of non-profit organizations, such as Sania Nishtar from the vaccination alliance Gavi, and from the private sector. Among others, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen as well as the Norwegian Prime Minister and his Estonian counterpart took part via video message.
The financing round is intended to… WHO help fulfill their “Health for All” mandate. With the funds now collected, the WHO wants to prevent 40 million preventable deaths caused by diseases over the next four years, it said in a statement.
In his speech on Monday, Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized the importance of the WHO: “What the WHO does benefits us all.” To do this, it needs “sustainable financing that enables planning security and flexibility.” Scholz also spoke out in favor of more international cooperation in health care. The corona pandemic has shown that this is necessary. “We therefore continue to advocate for the conclusion of an international pandemic instrument,” explained Scholz. This must improve pandemic prevention and enable governments to “react more quickly to pandemics and work more closely with other countries”.
As part of the donor round, Bill Gates emphasized the importance of financing global health in order to achieve a healthier future for all: “Global challenges require global solutions.” We need to pool resources and bring together cross-sector and cross-national expertise.
The medical doctor John-Arne Røttingen, chairman of the board of the non-profit foundation, pointed out the importance of strong multilateral actors Wellcome Trust: “The challenges that states face today are more than ever shared challenges, often not only with their direct neighbors, but across entire regions of the world or the entire world.” The foundation primarily supports research in the health sector, on infectious diseases as well on the corresponding climate consequences or on the psyche.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has shown that when health is at risk, everything is at risk,” said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Investments in the WHO are therefore not only investments in protecting and promoting health, but also investments in fairer, more stable and secure societies and economies.” In his speech at the opening of the WHS 2024 on Sunday evening, he remembered the suffering in war zones remembered, described a visit to Sudan and affirmed: “The best medicine is peace. We cannot talk about health alone. There is no health without peace and there is no peace without health.” In a nutshell: Peace is the best medicine.
At the World Health Summit 2024 under the motto “Building Trust for a Healthier World” more than 3,500 participants and representatives from science, business, politics, civil society and international organizations from all over the world are in Berlin. Topics included the challenges posed by artificial intelligence and improving women’s health. On Tuesday, the third and final day of the meeting, the focus will be on topics such as Mpox and the health effects of climate change.
with AP
