World Health Day 2026; April 7th.

FORUM: "Together for Health. Stand with Science." World Health Day 2026. In a world facing complex health threats, WHO calls on everyone to stand with science – by engaging with evidence, facts, and science-based guidance to protect health. Science serves everyone, everywhere. The WHO and its partners work around the clock to generate scientific knowledge on key health priorities from healthy diets to water, sanitation, vaccines and medicines, infections, chronic conditions and mental health; sharing evidence, strengthening countries’ research capacities and systems for more equitable access to health care. Be part of this work, contributing with experiences from you and your community’s perspective, to ensure science-led public health benefits more people to guide future health policies. Our health has improved substantially over the past 100 years – thanks to scientific innovations. The future will be shaped based on how we develop and practice science-led approaches for the health of all – not only humans, but also animals, plants, ecosystems and the entire planet – through the One Health approach. Follow the conversation with the hashtags #Worldhealthday, #Health, #Together4health, #standwithscience, #sdg3.

EVENTS: This World Health Day 2026, the G7 Presidency of France will host the International One Health Summit. Bringing together Heads of State, global leaders, scientists and community representatives, the Summit will showcase how science and political commitment can drive a new way forward for safeguarding the health of the planet.

Science powers health – One Health.

From 5 – 7 April 2026; The One Health Summit plowing by a "one health" intervention will be held in Lyon, France. Progress in public health is built on global solidarity and collaboration. WHO’s ability to connect science with real-life practice in communities and countries around the world is powered through its network of 800 collaborating centres. They are national institutions working in specialized fields such as radiation, influenza, nursing, bioethics, and occupational health, among many others.

The organizers' call on everyone to stand up and speak for science sharing their experiences of how facts, evidence and science-based interventions improve their health and the health of their loved ones.

Stand with science – WHO and its collaborating centres in over 80 countries.

From 7 to 9 April 2026 will be held the Global Forum of WHO Collaborating Centres entitled '' Collaborating for a healthier future.'' The Forum will highlight how its unique and powerful scientific network drives health impact that touches every person’s life.

Learn how to attend the International One Health Summit and the Global Forum of WHO Collaborating Centres.

PUBLICATIONS: Creating Healthy Lives— The Future of Medical Innovation. Published by the WIPO. Medical innovations are critical for closing the gaps in global healthcare provision. These innovations are happening across multiple dimensions. The key questions addressed in this edition of the GII include: 

• What is the potential impact of medical innovation on society and economic growth, and what obstacles must be overcome to reach that potential? 

• How is the global landscape for research and development (R&D) and medical innovation changing?

• What health challenges do future innovations need to address and what types of breakthroughs are on the horizon? 

• What are the main opportunities and obstacles to future medical innovation and what role might new policies play?

 Five key messages emerge: 

1. High quality and affordable healthcare for all is important for sustainable economic growth and the overall quality of life of citizens. While significant progress has been achieved across many dimensions over the last decades, significant gaps in access to quality healthcare for large parts of the global population remain. 

2. Medical innovations are critical for closing the gaps in global healthcare provision. These innovations are happening across multiple dimensions, including core sciences, drug development, care delivery, and organizational and business models. In particular, medical technology related innovations are blossoming, with medical technology patents more numerous and growing at a faster path than pharmaceutical patents for the last decade. However, some challenges need to be overcome—notably, a decline in pharmaceutical R&D productivity and a prolonged process for deploying health innovations due to complex health ecosystems. 

3. The convergence of digital and biological technologies is disrupting healthcare and increasing the importance of data integration and management across the healthcare ecosystem. New digital health strategies need to focus on creating data infrastructure and processes for efficient and safe data collection, management, and sharing. 

4. Emerging markets have a unique opportunity to leverage medical innovations and invest in new healthcare delivery models to close the healthcare gap with more developed markets. Caution should be taken to ensure that new health innovations, and their related costs, do not exacerbate the health gap between the rich and poor. 

5. To maximize the potential for future health innovation, it is important to encourage collaboration across key actors, increase funding from public and private sources, establish and maintain a skilled health workforce, and carefully evaluate the costs and benefits of medical innovations.

GET INVOLVED!