History and vision

The international Geneva Forum: Towards Global Access to Health is jointly organized by the University Hospitals of Geneva and the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Geneva, in partnership with the major international organizations active in health in Geneva and around the world.

The first Geneva Health Forum took place in 2006 in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the University Hospitals of Geneva, marking a long-term commitment to the provision of health care, research, and training. This first edition provided a state of the art on access to health around the world. The second edition of the Geneva Health Forum was held in 2008, with a particular focus on the strengthening of health systems and the global health workforce.

For more information on these two editions, please refer to the evaluation reports of the 2006 and 2008 forums.

The Geneva Health Forum was and continues to be designed around the advantages of the local, European, and international dimensions of Geneva, Switzerland. The city, deemed the ‘world capital of health’, has a long history of humanitarianism and humanitarian health action. It is also one of the major centres of international diplomacy and governance and has been home to the World Health Organization since its creation. At the same time Geneva provides the meeting place for dialogue and counsel in the areas of trade and economics, as well as science and technology.

The Geneva Health Forum, through the attributes of these historical and social factors, is dedicated to the support of innovative and open discussion and debate to mobilize, support, and strengthen forces to promote and sustain global access to health. The Geneva Health Forum event, and the new Global Access to Health Platform online, are founded on the principles of equality of opinion and opportunity. They aim to create a productive venue – whether that be at the conference or on the web – where critical reflexion and constructive debate support and foster a multi-stakeholder approach to global health issues. Both the conference and the platform place particular emphasis on bringing field experiences to international attention and on facilitating participation from low and lower-middle income countries.

The next edition of the Geneva Health Forum will take place from 19-21 April 2010.

Click here for the GHF 2010 2nd announcement

Dernière modification le 06/11/2009