Under the motto “Build trust for a healthier world”, the 16th World Health Summit is being held these days in Berlin, the main global forum on health, which, for three days, brings together representatives from politics, science, the private sector and civil society…
Under the motto “Build trust for a healthier world”, the 16th World Health Summit is being held these days in Berlin, the main global forum on health, which, for three days, brings together representatives from politics, science, the private sector and civil society around the world to set the health agenda of the future. More than 100 countries, 350 speakers and 3,000 in-person attendees participate in the event.
On this occasion, it is sponsored by the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the French President Emmanuel Macron and the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, in charge of the official opening. Said leader took advantage of his intervention to call on all parties in the conflict “to regain their sanity and resolve their problems with a political solution,” emphasizing that “peace is the best medicine.”
For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz highlighted that “Forums such as the World Health Summit provide the basis and strengthen confidence in global cooperation and in our research.” “Advances in research and technology should not benefit only a few. That is why strong multilateral institutions are so important, especially in the health sector. Germany takes seriously its responsibility to support institutions such as Gavi, UNAIDS, the Global Fund, Wellcome Trust, the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the Global Pandemic Fund and, of course, the WHO,” in his words.
The agenda for the 16th Summit includes topics such as pandemic preparedness, artificial intelligence in healthcare, impacts of climate change on health, and intellectual property rights for pharmaceutical products. Likewise, the WHO Investment Round will be addressed, with the aim of mobilizing resources and fulfilling promises, fostering alliances and accelerating progress towards achieving global health equity. In the words of its director general: “a strong, sustainably funded Organization is needed, and that is why we have launched the first WHO Investment Round, to mobilize in advance the predictable financing we need to carry out our work during the next four years.”
Declaration on Creating Healthy Societies
The WHO has set itself as a new objective active listening to young people and its commitment to find solutions with the creation of the WHO Youth Council which, at this Summit, presented the first Youth Declaration on the creation of societies healthy.
The document presented this Monday describes 10 calls to action that place young people at the center of co-creating healthier societies globally and explains what is needed to achieve it, summarized in a decalogue:
-Access, equity and inclusion for youth in education by removing barriers and designed to reflect the diverse health care needs of individuals and communities.
-Comprehensive national curricula on health, climate change and digital literacy.
-Quality and adaptive education through flexible and responsive learning environments.
-Participation and leadership of young people in the design and implementation of health policies and programs.
-Inclusive, accessible and prevention-focused health care, including for young people from marginalized and vulnerable groups.
-Invest in young people to empower them to become leaders and drive solutions in the areas of health, climate change and education.
-Creating brave spaces for healthy environments that protect young people from social and institutional barriers and keep them safe from violence, harassment and other harmful practices.
-Inclusion of young people by governments, international organizations and civil society to co-create policies on priority health needs.
-Value the experiences of young people, including their diversity and opinions, in the development and implementation of health policies.
-Greater support for grassroots youth organizations as a means to invest in future generations.
The members of the Youth Council, created last year, are representatives of health organizations and movements and other sectors. They actively advise and collaborate with the Director-General and senior management of the World Health Organization to ensure that health policies and programs reflect the experience, innovation and needs of young people around the world. The Council also serves as a platform to design and incubate new initiatives and to expand WHO’s existing youth engagement initiatives.