The World Health Summit and the Virchow Foundation for Global Health are working together to promote global health issues in a targeted and comprehensive manner in line with the health-related United Nations 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Both organizations strengthen their cooperation through a dedicated partnership agreement with a focus on humanitarian, multilateral and multisectoral engagement as well as science-based health strategy and policy. 

The World Health Summit (WHS), in collaboration with its international academic network, the M8 Alliance, has been promoting global health development in a science-based, multi-sectoral and partnership approach since its establishment in 2009. This is done in close collaboration with the German government, the WHO, and other leading national and international stakeholders from academia, business, government, and civil society. The WHS promotes the worldwide foundations and developments for global health through the annual World Health Summit in Berlin, the WHS Regional Meetings, and other projects and initiatives (“WHS365”). 

The Virchow Foundation for Global Health (Virchow Foundation) was established in 2021 with the main goal of establishing its Virchow Prize for Global Health at the highest international level in close association with the WHS. This award, first presented in October 2022 under the high patronage of the German Federal President, is intended to promote awareness of and engagement in global health issues among the general public nationally and internationally. Beyond the award, the Virchow Foundation pursues its objectives for the promotion of global health – where possible and desired by the WHS – by supporting the activities of the World Health Summit in partnership. 

UNITE is a non-profit, non-partisan, global network of current and former members of parliament from multinational, national, state, and regional Parliaments, Congresses, and Senates, committed towards the promotion of efficient and sustainable policies for improved global health systems, in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Considering the current global health crisis and consequences it has triggered around the world, UNITE’s activity follows a matrixed approach to global health, working with parliamentarians and partners to accelerate action taken with a focus on three cross-cutting priority areas

• Human rights and equitable access to health
• Strengthening of health systems
• Global health architecture and security

placing UNITE as the only network of parliamentarians from around the world currently focusing on the global health agenda. Visit UNITE’s website to learn more.

UNITE and the Virchow Foundation are committed to promote visibility for global health and have established a strategic partnership to further enhance collaboration towards the attainment of the United Nations Agenda 2030. The framework specifically addresses the Sustainable Development Goal-related fields of Global Health, Universal Health Coverage (UHC) and Health System Strengthening and was signed during the World Health Assembly in Geneva on May 24, 2023 from representatives of both organisations.

Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance is a public-private partnership that helps vaccinate half the world’s children against some of the world’s deadliest diseases. From its inception in 2000 through 2021, Gavi has helped to immunise a whole generation – over 981 million children – and prevented more than 16.2 million future deaths, helping to halve child mortality in 73 lower-income countries. Gavi also plays a critical role in global health security by funding global stockpiles of vaccines as well as outbreak response against diseases such as cholera, measles and Ebola.

Both Gavi and the Virchow Foundation for Global Health are committed to contributing to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the SDGs, in particular to SDG 3 (“Good Health and Well-Being”) and SDG 17 (“Partnerships for the Goals”), within the areas of equitable health access and universal health coverage. Together, Gavi and the Virchow Foundation will leverage their diverse platforms to raise awareness on global and public health issues through joint communication and partnership engagement.

“One Europe for Global Health” is a civil society coalition that bundles the voices from a diversity of professional organizations and citizens across Europe and around the world. This initiative stems from the mobilisation of several members who met in Lyon on the occasion of the European Ministers of Health and Foreign Affairs meeting during the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union in February 2022. The resulting “One Europe for Global Health Declaration” (initially “Lyon Declaration for a European Health Union”), urges European stakeholders in Global Health and One Health to:

1. Make a long-term commitment to future generations, to enhance preparedness and build more resilient societies
2. Think and act globally, regionally and locally – a “glocal” approach
3. Come together in equity and solidarity within Europe and beyond
4. Limit silos with more intersectoral cooperation
5. Commit to good governance for a European Health Union

As the WHO Foundation, our work supports the mission of the World Health Organization (WHO) and its implementing partners on the ground in achieving a world in which all people attain the highest possible standard of health and well-being.

The WHO Foundation shares the same vision as WHO: A world in which all people attain the highest possible level of health. The mission of the WHO Foundation is to mobilize greater private capital and partnership to advance the mission of WHO, with a focus on positive impact on the people whose lives depend on WHO’s work; and on innovation to maximize the impact of the resources we invest. Established in 2020 as an independent entity, the WHO Foundation complements and strengthens the work of WHO and its global network of partners by mobilizing new funding from diverse sources—including philanthropists, corporate entities, and the public—to power WHO’s mission.

The WHO Foundation and the Virchow Foundation are committed to elevating awareness for global health and encouraging innovation towards finding solutions for its most pressing challenges. The aim is to leverage both organisations’ platforms to advance the attainment of the SDGs and jointly foster collaboration across relevant sectors and actors in the global health landscape. The two foundations signed a memorandum of understanding on June 14, 2022 in Geneva.

The Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) is a non-profit charity organization with the mission to provide global leadership to reduce the worldwide burden of sepsis. The GSA is the initiator of World Sepsis Day on September 13 and World Sepsis Congress, a series of free online congresses bringing knowledge about sepsis to all parts of the world, among other initiatives.

The GSA works closely with its over 115 member organizations from all over the world – patient advocacy groups, professional societies, healthcare authorities, and governments – to implement changes on how sepsis is prioritized, diagnosed, and treated all around the world, as laid out in the WHO Resolution on Sepsis.

The Stifterverband unites committed individuals, companies and organisations with the aim of effectively and purposefully changing the education and science system. This helps strengthening the innovative power of society.

The Stifterverband is a powerful and influential network of 3,500 companies, foundations, science organizations and private individuals who help systematically shape education and science with coordinated joint measures.

The State Office for Health and Social Affairs (LAGeSo) is the Berlin competence center in the fields of healthcare, social affairs, consumer protection. Many citizens have already been in contact with the LAGeSo and have thus benefited from the diverse services. Currently, up to 20% of Berlin residents receive services from the social or health care sector of the office. LAGeSo has successfully faced the special challenges during the pandemic in the interest of public health protection and has gained a strong profile in the public as an expert state authority. Due to its broad and steadily growing responsibilities, LAGeSo holds a prominent position in the state of Berlin as a professional point of contact and citizen-oriented service authority.

On November 20, 2023, the two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further strengthen cooperation for global health in Berlin.