German Chancellor on global health: call for networking

The World Health Summit 2022 was officially opened in Berlin on Sunday evening. The dominant theme of the opening event: Taking Global Health to a New Level. The official press release (link in German) cites the notes by the key speakers.

At the opening event, Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz emphasized “Networking and good cooperation across national borders is what counts – especially in the field of global health. There needs to be an exchange between different scientific disciplines and also between science, politics and society. This is what World Health stands for Summit in Berlin.”

UN Secretary-General António Guterres emphasized in his pre-recorded speech: “This year’s World Health Summit must be about moving from warning to action. And let’s create stronger health systems – as everyone deserves.”

“The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed, and even exacerbated, the fragmented and fragmented global health architecture,” said WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “To take global health to a new level, we need a new global agreement, based on a shared vision: an inclusive global health architecture and a new approach that prioritizes promoting health and preventing disease instead of just treating the sick.”

Sandra Gallina, Director-General for Health and Food Security at the EU Commission, stressed: “These are times of great and shared responsibility. In order to tackle global health challenges, the world urgently needs joint action. The European Union is committed to the future EU strategy for global health poised to play a leading role in this effort.”

World Health Summit President Axel Pries also called for international cooperation: “At this time we have to work together internationally in an unprecedented way. We can only deal with issues such as global health, peace, and global warming and its consequences for health together and in cope with mutual trust.”

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