Offline: What is the World Health Summit for?

Abstract

The second regional meeting of the World Health Summit convenes this week at the Medical School of the University of São Paulo (April 6–8). It follows a successful regional conference held in Singapore a year ago. In 2015, the Summit will move to Kyoto, Japan. The Brazilian hosts at this year's meeting are celebrating Latin American learning in five areas—healthy life expectancy, urban health, universal health coverage, health education, and research capacity. Region-focused global health events are rare. They matter because they provide an opportunity for global lessons to be drawn from local experiences. The Lancet is one of several “media partners” to the World Health Summit (Sabine Kleinert and I also sit on the Summit's Council). We have been strong supporters of the idea of a World Health Summit since its inception in 2009. But, as a critical friend, one must question its current value and direction. There is a sense among some partners that the Summit is drifting (and indeed diminishing) from year-to-year without evident achievement or advantage. Does the world need a World Health Summit? What is the World Health Summit for?We thank Richard Horton for his thoughtful critique (April 5, p 1195)1 of the World Health Summit and the M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities, and National Academies. As a supporter of both activities since their earliest days, The Lancet's input is especially important to us. Full-Text PDF