--- eventsindex_id: EI-06601 slug: world-health-summit title: World Health Summit title_alt: [] canonical_url: https://eventsindex.org/events/world-health-summit.html next_edition_dates: 2026-10-11 to 2026-10-13 next_edition_year: 2026 date_start: '2026-10-11' date_end: '2026-10-13' venue: '' city: Berlin country: Germany organiser: WHS Foundation GmbH organiser_url: https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/ b2b: false vector: sector: - digital-health audience: - practitioner format: - conference purpose: - networking geography_scope: - Western-Europe season: autumn meta_description: 'World Health Summit 2026 in Berlin, 11-13 October: ministers, WHO and academic leaders on health-system resilience, equity and the role of AI in global health.' editorial_take: The World Health Summit is the global health policy event of the EMEA autumn, convening health ministers, academic leaders and WHO officials in Berlin; digital health and clinical AI sit as one strand of six within a programme whose centre of gravity is health-system resilience and equity. generated_by: enrich-cowork (N1/N2/N3) last_verified: '2026-06-30' schema_version: v8.0 language: en --- # World Health Summit > *The annual global health summit in Berlin, convening health ministers, academic leaders, WHO and international officials and private-sector executives across three days to turn scientific evidence and policy dialogue into commitments for more resilient and equitable health systems.* --- ## Quick Facts | DATES | VENUE | ORGANISER | ATTENDANCE | |---|---|---|---| | 11–13 October 2026 | InterContinental Berlin | WHS Foundation GmbH | ~4,000 on-site, 40,000+ online (organiser figure) | ## Definition The World Health Summit is an annual strategic forum for global health, held in Berlin since 2009. It was initiated by Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin and is run by the WHS Foundation GmbH, co-governed by the WHS Academic Alliance, a network of around 30 leading academic health institutions worldwide. The 2026 edition carries the leitmotif "From Crisis to Resilience: Innovating for Health" and organises its programme around six central topics spanning health-system strengthening, equity, pandemic preparedness, financing and the role of artificial intelligence in health. ## What the World Health Summit is for The summit exists to set a shared agenda across the people who govern, fund and study health systems. Its distinguishing feature is the routine presence of sitting health ministers alongside the scientific leadership of its academic alliance, which gives the discussions both political weight and research grounding. For a digital health or clinical AI audience, the summit is the place where deployment questions meet the governance, financing and equity constraints that decide whether a technology reaches patients, rather than a venue for product evaluation. ## Who attends the World Health Summit - Government health ministers and senior policymakers - Academic and scientific leaders, primarily through the WHS Academic Alliance - International organisation officials, including WHO and the World Bank - Private-sector health and pharmaceutical executives - Civil society and NGO representatives - Digital health and responsible-AI-in-health specialists - Youth global health advocates and participants from low- and middle-income countries ## What the World Health Summit covers programmatically The 2026 programme is built around six central topics. Based on the published leitmotif and the recurring structure of recent editions, the coverage includes: - Health-system strengthening and future-readiness - Equity and access to care - Pandemic preparedness and resilience - Innovative financing for health - Artificial intelligence and digital technology in global health - Planetary health and the climate-health relationship ## Notable speakers Confirmed and recurring participants span government, multilateral and academic leadership: - **Ricardo Baptista Leite**, CEO, HealthAI – The Global Agency for Responsible AI in Health - **Hanan Balkhy**, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, WHO - **Natalie Banner**, Director of Ethics, Genomics England - **Axel R. Pries**, President, World Health Summit ## FAQ · Identity and audience ### Is the World Health Summit a digital health event? Only in part. Digital health and AI form one of the six central topics, not the core identity. The programme's centre of gravity is global health governance, financing, equity and pandemic preparedness. It is the right event for situating digital health within health-system policy, and the wrong one for hands-on technology evaluation. ### How does it differ from HLTH Europe or HIMSS? The World Health Summit is co-governed by academic health institutions and rooted in a public university, with sitting health ministers as routine participants. HLTH Europe is a commercial innovation forum for executives and investors, and HIMSS is health-IT and informatics-driven. The summit is the only one of the three built around global health policy and explicit representation from low- and middle-income countries. ### Who is the World Health Summit NOT designed for? - Vendors seeking a procurement or exhibition floor to sell devices or software - Teams looking for a clinical AI or health-IT product showcase - Start-ups whose goal is investor matchmaking rather than policy engagement - Specialty clinicians attending for continuing medical education - Attendees wanting a national-market trade event rather than a global policy summit ## The organiser: WHS Foundation GmbH The World Health Summit is organised by WHS Foundation GmbH, rooted in Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, which initiated the first summit in 2009. It is co-governed by the WHS Academic Alliance, a network of around 30 leading academic health institutions worldwide. This academic backbone, combined with governmental participation, is what gives the summit its standing as a global health policy convening rather than a commercial conference. --- ## Editorial take *The World Health Summit is the global health policy event of the EMEA autumn, convening ministers, WHO and academic leaders in Berlin; digital health and clinical AI sit as one strand of six within a programme whose centre of gravity is health-system resilience and equity.* ## How to register and what it costs Registration is open through the official conference portal. Pricing is tiered by geography and organisation type, with an early-bird rate until 31 July, a 50 percent discount for participants resident in low- and middle-income countries, and a limited number of complimentary places for youth-led and civil-society organisations. Exact amounts are not publicly disclosed on the official pages as of verification. ## FAQ · Access and practicalities ### Where is the World Health Summit held? At the InterContinental Berlin, Budapester Straße 2, 10787 Berlin, with a parallel online programme. ### Is there an online attendance option? Yes. The summit runs a substantial digital programme; organiser figures cite more than 40,000 online participants alongside roughly 4,000 on-site. ### Are there reduced rates for participants from lower-income countries? Yes. Participants with habitual residence in low- and middle-income countries receive a 50 percent discount, and fellowship-funded places support broader participation. ## Resources | Resource | URL | |---|---| | Official website | https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/ | | Register | https://www.conference.worldhealthsummit.org/ | | Organiser | https://www.worldhealthsummit.org/about | --- **Last verified:** 2026-06-30 **Next review:** 2026-07-30 **Notes:** Detailed 2026 track titles and exact pricing not yet published at time of verification. Attendance and speaker figures are organiser-reported or based on recent editions. **Variables:** N/58 **Concept definition:** not applicable