I am honoured to welcome you to the 2025 World Health Summit, alongside fellow patrons Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz and President Emmanuel Macron.

In these divided and divisive times, health is one of the few areas in which countries who are otherwise political and economic rivals can work together to build a common approach to common threats. In May of this year, WHO Member States adopted the Pandemic Agreement, following three-and-a-half years of negotiation. It was an affirmation that multilateralism is alive and well. The nations of the world showed that it is still possible for countries to work together, and to find common ground for a common purpose.

The Pandemic Agreement comes at an especially significant time. Around the world, dramatic reductions in aid are having severe impacts on health services in many developing countries, as billions of dollars supporting vital programmes disappeared virtually overnight. These disruptions are affecting millions of people who are missing out on life-saving services and medicines, including vaccines; health facilities are being forced to close; and supply chains and information systems are breaking down.

Although this is an acute crisis now, it is a crisis long in the making. Many health systems around the world have long suffered from chronic underinvestment and aid dependency. As a result, out-of-pocket spending is the main source of health financing in many lower-income countries and communities. At the same time, debt servicing costs restrict countries' ability to invest in health. In fact, many countries spend more on debt interest payments than on education and health combined.

At the same time, in every crisis there is an opportunity. Many leaders from developing countries have told me that they also see this current crisis as a chance to leave behind the era of aid dependency and transition towards sustainable self-reliance.

WHO is supporting countries to make that transition, by identifying tools to improve efficiency and generate new revenues and benefits for health from domestic sources, through pooled procurement, public health insurance, and excise taxes on tobacco, alcohol and sugary drinks. Earlier this year, WHO recently launched our “3 by 35” initiative, which aims to support countries to increase the real prices of these three unhealthy products by at least 50% by 2035.

I see three major priorities for reshaping the global health landscape.

First, the mindset of aid dependency has to stop. Now is the time for leadership from governments, to transition away from aid dependency and chart the path to self-reliance by mobilizing domestic resources to support primary health care as the foundation of universal health coverage.

Second, we need leadership from lenders, in the form of concessional lending, at fair terms.

And third, we need leadership from generous donors, to help build capacity for health programmes so countries can run them themselves, rather than setting up parallel systems of salaries and operating costs. Self-reliance means national systems, national budgets and national priorities, in alignment with the Lusaka Agenda and the principles of “one plan, one budget, one report”.

WHO stands ready to support all countries, and to work with all partners to turn this crisis into an opportunity. The choices we make now will shape the future of global health financing. Because ultimately, health is not a cost to be contained. It is an investment to be nurtured – an investment in people, stability and economic growth, so that we can achieve Health for All and build a healthier, safer, and fairer world.