The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) has today released the first details of speakers confirmed for its upcoming global conference, to be held on 13 and 14 November 2024.

Among those featured at the summit will be WISH executive chair Lord Ara Darzi of Denham and Médecins Sans Frontières’ international president Christos Christou.

Lord Darzi, who recently led an independent investigation on the state of the National Health Service in England, will set the tone with a keynote speech that sheds light on the need for international cooperation on a range of global health challenges, including combating the growth of antibiotic resistance, and the need for innovation in health to support everyone, so that nobody is left behind, especially among vulnerable societies and in areas of armed conflict.

In discussion with world news presenter Yalda Hakim, Christo Christou will discuss the importance of protecting health in areas of armed conflict, including Gaza and Sudan, drawing on new reports and his own frontline experience in these war zones.

The biennial summit will feature more than 200 experts presenting evidence-based ideas and innovative practices in healthcare that address some of the world’s most urgent global health challenges. These speakers will include: Prof Dame Sally Davies (UK Special Envoy on Antimicrobial Resistance), palliative care doctor and bestselling author Dr Rachel Clarke, CEO of War Child Canada, Dr Samantha Nutt, Michael Fakhri (UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, OHCHR), Sigrid Kaag (UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza and former First Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands), Dr Jim Yong Kim, former president of the World Bank and co-founder of Partners in Health, and Sheikh Dr Mohamed Al Thani (Director of Public Health, Qatar Ministry of Public Health).

This year, WISH has partnered with the World Health Organization (WHO) to develop three WHO-led collaborative research projects, generating evidence-based reports for in-depth discussion at the summit.  These reports will focus on topics needing the urgent attention of the global health community, underscoring a joint commitment to improve policy and practice. Speakers representing WHO will include Regional Director for Europe, Dr Hans Kluge, Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, Dr Hanan Balkhy, and Regional Director for South-East Asia, Saima Wazad.

Maha El Akoum, Acting Director of Research and Policy at WISH, said: “WISH this year focuses on thought-provoking topics that probe some of the most pressing challenges currently faced by the global health community, such as protecting health delivery during armed conflict, the threat of antibiotic overuse, the ethics of AI use in healthcare, and how to make palliative care available to all. These topics have attracted a wide range of brilliant expert speakers to our summit who will ensure that the discussions that take place are insightful and impactful.”

The theme of this year’s WISH is ‘Humanizing Health: Conflict, Equity and Resilience’. WISH is the global health initiative of Qatar Foundation. To learn more and to register your interest in attending WISH 2024, visit https://wish.org.qa/summits/wish-2024/.