At a joint event held by the World Health Summit (WHS) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Grand Challenges Annual Meeting (GCAM), Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel emphasised that health is an "essential prerequisite for well-being, prosperity and a dignified life - in short: for everything that the Agenda 2030 with its 17 agenda goals stands for." Thus, any investment in the healthcare system is "an investment in the people, in stable population development, and in a perspective for humanity."

The 10th World Health Summit was held from 14 to 16 October under the title "Innovation to address global health and development". The aim of the summit, which has been held in Berlin since 2009, is to improve global health through open dialogue and cooperation. In addition to the French Prime Minister, and since 2013 the President of the European Commission, Federal Chancellor Merkel is also a patron of the event.
The Grand Challenges Annual Meeting is aimed primarily at scientists and sponsors. The event facilitates both exchanges on current scientific developments, as well as the strengthening of interdisciplinary and inter-regional cooperation. This should support the introduction of innovation in the area of "global health".

Global cooperation on health issues

At the event, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros presented a first draft of a health action plan. So now, for the first time, there is a joint draft of a plan for global health, with all the relevant organisations involved. The Chancellor already showed her delight in the run-up to the event, and emphasised that it displayed "a degree of tangibility, which must still be achieved for other goals".
Bill Gates, American entrepreneur and co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, also took part in the event. In his speech, he announced his wish to wipe out malaria by 2040.

Germany and Norway are closely connected

Before the event, Merkel and Solberg met for discussions. In addition to bilateral issues, they also exchanged views on European and global challenges. Germany and Norway are united by common interests and shared values. Germany is one of the most important trading partners for Norway. A large part of the natural gas consumption in Germany comes from the Scandinavian country.

There is also good cooperation on security issues: Norway is currently hosting a large-scale NATO training exercise, which the Bundeswehr is significantly involved in. In addition, the two countries cooperate closely in the area of research and development.