World Health Summit

11/02/2026

Meet our WHS International President 2025/26: Lukoye Atwoli, Professor and Dean at the Aga Khan University, Nairobi

The International Presidency of the World Health Summit rotates annually among members of the WHS Academic Alliance. This rotating leadership reflects our shared commitment to collaboration across regions – engaging diverse perspectives in shaping the global health agenda.

Each presidency also carries the responsibility of hosting the WHS Regional Meeting for the year, creating a unique space for regional perspectives to shape global dialogue.

Register now for the upcoming WHS Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya, April 27–29: https://www.whsnairobi2026.com/

Under the leitmotif “Reimagining Africa’s Health Systems: Innovation, Integration, and Interdependence”, this year’s Regional Meeting will advance inclusive, sustainable, and future-oriented health systems for Africa and beyond.

We look forward to a year of strong partnership and collective impact.

11/02/2026

🎧 From better communication for global health, the connection between arts and science, the World Health Summit, new partnerships, and a new global health architecture: listen to this new podcast episode with WHS President Axel Radlach Pries and podcast host Dr Garry Aslanyan

🎙️ Listen now: https://tinyurl.com/GHM-E60
📹 Watch the video episode: https://youtu.be/2BME7DTYhdI

The latest episode of is live! 🎧
In this episode, Garry Aslanyan is joined by Axel Pries, President of the World Health Summit , for a thoughtful conversation on the evolving global health landscape. Axel reflects on the need to bridge silos across science, policy, the private sector, the importance of fairness and equity in global partnerships; and why the way we talk about global health needs to change.

From humanitarian values to prevention, communication, and collaboration, this episode explores what it will take to build a more effective, resilient, and fair health ecosystem worldwide.

🎙️ Listen now 👉https://tinyurl.com/GHM-E60
📹 Watch the full video episode 👉 https://youtu.be/2BME7DTYhdI

09/02/2026

🔵 What does academic responsibility mean in a fragmenting world?

This question was at the heart of last week’s high-level Symposium on Academic Responsibility in a Fragmenting World, co-hosted by the WHS Academic Alliance and Manipal Academy of Higher Education at the MAHE Dubai Campus.

Connected to the kick-off of the WHS Academic Alliance and the Lancet Commission on Academic Responsibility, this event brought together academic leaders from all over the world and highlighted how science must engage more deeply with societies while being protected as a global public good.

“Never before have academic institutions been under so much threat,” said Sabine Kleinert, Deputy Editor-in-Chief at The Lancet, in her opening remarks as discussions underscored rising political pressures, funding constraints, and growing public distrust toward academic institutions.

Key reflections from the evening:

🎓 Academic responsibility works in two directions.
It requires internal commitments to scientific integrity, quality, relevance, and transparency and external commitments from societies to safeguard academic freedom as a foundation for innovation and progress. Absence of academic responsibility leaves a vacuum for misinformation and distrust in science.

🌍 Science must engage with society.
Producing knowledge is not enough. Academia must actively communicate, listen, and respond to societal needs, building trust through openness, accountability, and independence for societal change.

🧭 From science to impact.
Universities are increasingly called upon to act as catalysts for social good, translating evidence into action and contributing to solutions for global challenges. Effective responses to today’s complex health and societal challenges demand closer cross-sectoral cooperation.

The message from the participants of the event was clear: In a fragmented world, responsible, free, and engaged academia is more essential than ever.

Manipal Academy of Higher Education - MAHE, Dubai

04/02/2026

“There is no global security without global health security.”

📑 In a new WHS Perspectives commentary, Dr. Seth Berkley makes a clear case:

He warns that pandemic and biological risks are increasing while global preparedness is weakening.

Meanwhile, global health funding is being cut as military budgets continue to rise to record levels. This growing imbalance, Berkley argues, reflects a dangerous misunderstanding of what “security” actually means.

👉 Read the full commentary here: https://worldhealthsummit.org/news/commentary-by-seth-berkley-on-health-security

It’s a timely reminder, coming just over six years after WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).

🆕 New series launch: is our new commentary series on pressing global health topics. This edition focuses on health security, with more perspectives coming soon.

03/02/2026

🔬 What is academia’s responsibility in times of of rising mis- and disinformation?

Yik-Ying Teo, Dean of the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health at the National University of Singapore - a Member - reminds us of academia’s responsibility to keep health at the centre of decision-making.

He underscores academia’s role in providing evidence-based guidance to governments, regional coalitions, and international organisations such as WHO in addressing mis- and disinformation.

🟦 The WHS Academic Alliance is the scientific network of the World Health Summit. It brings together 30 leading academic institutions worldwide to connect the scientific community and support evidence-informed health policy and practice.

31/01/2026

Our January Newsletter is out now 📩

Get a first look at what’s shaping the World Health Summit 2026 agenda, including our new leitmotif:

From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health 🌍💡

In this WHS News edition:

- Registration is now open for the WHS Regional Meeting 2026 in Nairobi, April 27–29
- WHS CEO Carsten Schicker gives an outlook to major trends in health in 2026
- Session spotlight: Advancing Cancer Control is a spotlight with the World Cancer Day on February 4 and the Cervical Cancer Prevention Week underway
- Two new members in the : United Nations University - International Institute for Global Health and Peking University Institute for Global Health and Development

Interested in more? 👀

You can find the current newsletter edition on our website along with all previous issues here: https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/media/newsletter

Don’t want to miss the next edition? Sign up to our monthly WHS News:

The World Health Summit is the unique international strategic forum for global health. It brings together stakeholders from politics, science, the private sector, and civil society from around the world to set the agenda for a healthier future by inspiring innovative solutions for better health and....

30/01/2026

💬 “We all need to work together to counter mis- and disinformation. It is a major threat to public health, and it should be everybody’s priority.”

Sally Green, Co-Director of Cochrane Australia and a Professorial Fellow at Monash University – a Member – underlines that countering mis- and disinformation requires coordinated action.

She calls for a shift in how science communicates: taking evidence beyond academic spaces and bringing it to the channels where people get their information.

🟦 The WHS Academic Alliance is the scientific network of the World Health Summit. It brings together 30 leading academic institutions worldwide to connect the scientific community and support evidence-informed health policy and practice.

28/01/2026

🌍 From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health

Under this leitmotif, will focus on how to turn innovation into more equitable, continuous, and future-ready systems that strengthen health and well-being over the long term.

27/01/2026

What does a healthy smile have to do with the WHS Academic Alliance?

The Alliance just launched its first Working Group on Oral Health and General Health.

Initiated during , the Working Group held its first meeting last week.

Bringing together more than 30 experts across 12 WHS Academic Alliance member institutions from around the world, with Sapienza University of Rome serving as coordinator, the group focuses on strengthening the link between oral health and overall health.

Key areas of work include:

1️⃣ the connection between oral health and overall health
2️⃣ oral health across the life course
3️⃣ the integration of oral health into universal health coverage ( ) and the prevention and management of noncommunicable diseases ( )

Through cross-sector collaboration, the working group aims to advance scalable strategies, education, and actionable policies that strengthen prevention, improve outcomes, and support sustainable change through oral care.

27/01/2026

Good Health News: Denmark is close to wiping out leading cancer-causing HPV strains after vaccine roll-out

🆕 What’s new:
- Before the HPV vaccination rollout, HPV16/18 prevalence was ~15-17% in young women in Denmark
- After the vaccine roll-out, prevalence in vaccinated women fell to < 1% by 2021
- In unvaccinated women, HPV16/18 was around 5-6%, suggesting population immunity

🔎 Why this matters:
- HPV16/18 were responsible for ~70% of cervical cancers cases in Denmark
- Denmark’s results show what can be achieved when vaccination reaches high coverage and is supported by robust monitoring systems

➡️ The next step:
Many women still carry high-risk HPV types not covered by the early vaccines
That’s why continued screening and vaccination remain important

Why are we sharing this?
In a news cycle that often feels heavy, we want to spotlight measurable progress toward better .

With our new series, Good Health News, we’ll regularly share evidence-based examples of what’s working in global health.

What recent health impact story has stayed with you? Share it in the comments.

26/01/2026

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Dr. William H. Foege, a global health pioneer and leader in the global effort that culminated in the eradication of smallpox.

In this video shown at , he reflects on what it took to defeat smallpox and why progress in global health depends on partnership, trust, and reaching people in every setting.

“That broke the chain of transmission that went directly back to the very first case thousands and thousands of years ago.” — Dr. William H. Foege

26/01/2026

What trends will shape health in 2026?

After a year of turmoil in global health and the wider development sector we are turning to the year ahead. Carsten Schicker, Chief Executive Officer World Health Summit outlines the five trends to watch in 2026: https://econimpact.co/1dO