World Health Summit – Day Three: A Call to Action

(openPR) (Berlin, October 17, 2017) On Tuesday, the ninth World Health Summit concluded in Berlin with 2,000 participants from over 80 countries and a clear call to action. Over three days, more than 250 speakers discussed the most pressing challenges in Global Health and called for joint action.

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“The World Health Summit brought together more decision-makers from academia, politics, the private sector, and civil society than ever before. This is a good foundation from which to start action now – together and across all borders”, explained World Health Summit President Detlev Ganten.

On the afternoon of the World Health Summit’s third day, the M8 Alliance, the World Health Summit’s academic think tank, called on politicians and governments worldwide to intensify their efforts for Global Health and cooperation: “Health is a political choice.”

Key demands of the M8 Alliance Declaration:
- The world needs strong global health institutions to set norms and standards, respond to outbreaks and to protect and support the most vulnerable. The M8 Alliance calls on the countries hosting the next G7 and G20 summits and holding the presidencies of key regional organizations to include global health challenges on their agendas and to make the political choices required to ensure the implementation of the 2030 SDG agenda.
- The world is not yet ready to respond sufficiently to a major pandemic threat. The M8 Alliance calls on decision makers to maintain and strengthen their investment in health security. This must include ensuring the safety of health and humanitarian workers in war and conflict zones.
- Cities are becoming transformative drivers of sustainable development and key actors in global health. The M8 Alliance welcomes the increasing number of city initiatives and networks that support health and calls on Mayors to give particular attention to the social determinants of health and their impact on the next generation of children and young people.

The M8 Alliance Declaration is available online: https://bit.ly/M8-Declaration-2017

A central topic on the third day was the health impact of war and terror. “When health-workers are attacked patients pay the human prize”, said Christine Beerli, Vice President, International Committee of the Red Cross. Tewodros Melesse, Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation, demanded to finally take action on sexual reproductive health as the world is still in denial. “Gender-based violence gets worse in times of conflict – especially in camps. How can we seriously believe these traumatized people will go back home and work on peace?” he said.

Another topic was the Sustainable Development Goals. Speakers in the keynote lecture included Matshidiso Rebecca Moeti (WHO Regional Director for Africa), Elhadj As Sy (Secretary General, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies) und Ilona Kickbusch (Director, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies).

Free video recordings and photographs will be available at: https://www.worldhealthsummit.org

Information on speakers and topics of the World Health Summit 2017:
https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/whs-2017/program
https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/whs-2017/speakers

The World Health Summit 2017 was held from October 15-17 at Kosmos (Karl-Marx-Allee 131a) in Berlin. Under the high patronage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President of the Republic of France Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, it is the premiere international platform for exploring strategic developments and decisions in the area of healthcare.

Save the Date:

World Health Summit 2018
October 14-16
Berlin

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Press contact:
Tobias Gerber
Tel.: +49 30 450 572 114


Weitere Informationen:
- http://www.worldhealthsummit.org

Quelle: idw