Global health is facing a deepening crisis. Shrinking public financing, increasing geopolitical fragmentation and growing dependence on private funding are reshaping health priorities. Against this backdrop, the invite-only World Health Summit (WHS) 2026, which is taking place in Berlin from 11–13 October 2026, calls for innovation in technology, governance, financing and partnerships to overcome these challenges.
"Innovation" is often equated with involving more private actors and private finance in global health. But while private philanthropic foundations, corporations, public-private partnerships (PPPs) and multi-stakeholder initiatives (MSIs) increasingly shape global health agendas, they have also contributed to the fragmentation and privatisation of the global health landscape – risking marginalisation of civil society, affected communities and low- and middle-income country perspectives. Their growing influence also risks weakening our understanding of health as a global public good and human right in favour of commercial and geopolitical interests and disease- or intervention-specific initiatives that attract donor funding.
This lunch talk aims to bring together experts from academia, civil society, politics and global health practice to discuss the growing influence of private actors in global health governance and financing and to explore what kind of innovations are needed to build a more democratic, accountable and equitable global health system.
As places are limited, we kindly ask you to register in advance here.
Speakers include:
- Unni Karunakara - Global Health expert
- Kalipso Chalkidou - Director of the Performance, Financing and Delivery Department at the World Health Organization (WHO)
- Katerini Storeng - Professor of Medical Anthropology and Global Health at University of Oslo
- Stella Merendino - Member of the German Parliament (Die Linke)
- Dan Owalla - People’s Health Movement Kenya
Moderator: Victoria Saint - Research Associate and Doctoral Candidate at Bielefeld University
