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During the 2024 World Health Summit on 10 October, global health experts from the Humboldt Network got together with researchers and journalists from Berlin to talk about blind spots in health communication and effective ways for science and the media to cooperate. Among the participants were scientists and students of Global Health from Charité University Hospital, the Akkon University of Applied Sciences (Global Health Seminar), the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, and representatives of the Science Desk at Deutsche Welle and the Tagesspiegel Background on Health and E-health.
The President of the World Health Summit, Prof. Dr Axel Radlach Pries, held the welcome address and reminded listeners that “health is an enormous economic driver; health is also a foreign policy topic and yet we still don’t devote enough attention to the strategic side of global health communication – although communication can change things significantly.” Pries also addressed the issue of competing expert voices and the role of disinformation.
Given the current infodemic, and in the face of the social and economic inequalities in the world, health literacy is becoming ever more of a challenge. So, how can we create greater visibility for experts from various areas of healthcare? How can we make research more accessible and open to questions that are linked to people’s lives? How does the local context influence the choice and use of appropriate channels and language to enhance people’s awareness of health topics? These were the main results of the workshop:
Strategic communication
- We need binding guidelines and internationally valid implementation measures on Global Health Communication.
- Global Health Communication must seriously consider the varying conditions for accessing health provision and education. It requires inclusive, bottom-up communication that takes the various aspects of diversity into account.
- To a greater extent, our experience of communication during the COVID pandemic must be incorporated into our joint management of future health risks.
- We need faster and more direct access and communication paths amongst health experts and the various publics.

"It is not only about what we communicate but rather for whom we communicate."
Building context and target-group specific competence
- We need more targeted communication campaigns as well as resources for rural areas.
- Promoting health competence should include digital competence. New technologies allow us fair, fast access to health provision – above all, in parts of the world with weak infrastructures.
- Especially in politically unstable and crisis-torn regions, the role of globally active institutions like the WHO must be strengthened.
- The role of mediators – from social workers via health service personnel through to doctors and consultants – should be reinforced: in financial, HR and infrastructure terms.
"The way mental health issues are talked about in countries across the globe varies greatly. We need to understand the local cultures and specific vocabulary used to express symptoms to communicate solutions effectively."
Task of and collaboration between science and the media
- Research in Global Health should more closely reflect the realities of people’s lives. It should be approachable and context related.
- It would be desirable to extend and finance cross-border reporting on health in order to make global interaction as well as best practices more visible.
- We need researchers and journalists to regularly share ideas at workshops and by job shadowing to systematically encourage cooperation and the understanding of methods and working practices in the field of Global Health.
- Knowledge of local practices, values and attitudes is core to successful health communication. Both research and the media should integrate local contexts more in communicating health topics.
Moreover, some participants suggested developing an online platform where people can learn from one another. In addition to best communication practices, stakeholders from various backgrounds could share tips on dealing with different target groups.
"Infectious diseases don’t stop at borders, and neither should communication."
Every year, the World Health Summit brings together actors from all over the world from politics, academia, the private sector and civil society to set the agenda for a healthier future. It is under the patronage of the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the French President Emmanuel Macron, and the Director-General of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. In 2024, the summit was held in Berlin and online from 13-15 October under the heading “Building Trust for a Healthier World.”