Carsten Schicker
CEO, World Health Summit
Security dominates headlines and politics. Yet one of its most decisive dimensions remains underestimated: health. Health is not a parallel concern to security, but one of its foundations.
Global health resilience is, at its core, about preparedness and protection: ensuring that societies can withstand and recover from health crises.
The COVID-19 pandemic exposed how quickly health threats can cross regions, disrupting economies, straining political stability and amplifying social inequalities. The lesson was clear: investments in health are neither optional nor charitable; they are strategic.
When health systems are strong, the returns extend far beyond hospitals and individual health gains. Preventive care, surveillance systems and equitable access to services reduce long-term costs, mitigate risks and stabilise societies. In economic terms, health spending yields resilience, productivity and sustainable growth.
The implications reach even further. Health intersects with some of the most pressing global challenges. Climate change intensifies health risks through heatwaves, shifting disease patterns and environmental degradation. Robust health infrastructures contribute to economic continuity and social cohesion. Health operates as both a safeguard and an enabler across sectors.
investments in health are neither optional nor charitable; they are strategic
From Crisis to Resilience
The World Health Summit – the leading platform for global health – convenes leaders and changemakers to translate these connections into action. Under the 2026 leitmotif, ‘From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health,’ the World Health Summit 2026 will focus on how innovation, across technology, policy, financing, governance and partnerships, can help build more equitable, future-ready health systems.
By convening leaders from politics, science, the private sector and civil society, the World Health Summit creates a space where health is addressed as a cross-cutting priority.
Elevating health within broader policy discussions is no longer a matter of advocacy; it is a matter of strategy. Recognising health as a central pillar of resilience, stability and development changes how decisions are made and how futures are built.
The conversation is underway. The question is whether it will translate into action. Join us in Berlin for the World Health Summit 2026, October 11-13, and be part of the solutions.
