Berlin, 19 October 2012 Berlin welcomes 1.400 experts from around 100 nations to the World Health Summit being held from 21 to 24 October. International researchers meet policy makers in the fields of health care, economy and politics. The participation of many of the remarkable guests has been gained through the M8 Alliance.

“The international elite in the field of medicine will get together in Berlin. Representatives of famous international universities, Nobel laureates and health policy strategists will be guests in the German capital”, says Burkhard Kieker, CEO of visitBerlin. “Berlin is a city with a very high level of expertise in the field of medicine. The capital provides the forum for the highly respected summit taking place for the fourth time. The World Health Summit strengthens Berlin's role as the leading location for medical conferences in Europe.”

Around 20 percent of all conferences and events held in the German capital are related to the medical sector, establishing Berlin as a “Health Capital”. The international profile of the conference promotes Berlin successfully as a centre of science worldwide. In order to tie the summit more strongly to the German capital, visitBerlin sets out to promote the conference. Messe Berlin and visitBerlin became shareholders in the World Health Summit Foundation GmbH at the end of June 2012.

Prof. Dr. Detlev Ganten, founding president of the summit, stresses the importance of a good and firm connection with the German capital: “Berlin is a modern metropolis with long medical tradition and is thus the ideal place to bring together the leading personalities representing every field in the health sector. The debate on an international basis is important to ensure that the rapid medical advancements taking place worldwide get to the patients as well. Such a great exchange is made possible through the World Health Summit and the healthcare metropolis Berlin.”

Noble laureates, international health strategists and top class health care specialists will be guests in Berlin

The vision of the World Health Summit in Berlin: improving global healthcare. The international summit will be held this year with the motto “Research for Health and Sustainable Development”. What does global healthcare look like in the 21st century? What kinds of challenges are being faced in medical research?

To answer these and more questions, over 200 top-class speakers are expected to arrive in Berlin: Germany's health minister Daniel Bahr will hold a discussion with his counterparts from Singapore (Gan Kim Yong) and Botswana (John G. N. Seakgosing). Nobel laureates such as Peter Agre from the USA (Chemistry), Gerd Binnig from Germany (Physics) as well as Sima Samar, an Afghan human rights activist and holder of the Alternative Nobel Prize, will meet experts in the international scientific and academic field. Many of them are part of the M8 Alliance. The “M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centres and Medical Universities” is a global network of eight outstanding medical schools – including the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the London Imperial College, the Sorbonne Paris Cité, the Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences in Moscow and the Berlin Charité. Josef Ackermann, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Zurich Insurance Group will enter into dialogue with medical specialists from all over the world such as Peter Seeberger, adept in malaria at the Max-Planck institute Potsdam, and Peter Piot, co-discoverer of the Ebola virus, as well as the American Pulitzer Prize holder and biologist Laurie Garrett.

The programme, the complete list of speakers, and further information can be found online at:

www.worldhealthsummit.org.