Health issues are a key focus of the World Economic Forum's Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions - the "Summer Davos".
Health issues are a growing concern among today's business leaders, and will take center stage at the Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian, China, from 6 to 8 September 2007.
Finding innovative solutions to the challenges of infectious pandemics and chronic diseases is key to ensuring long-term economic development and the well being of nations worldwide. The Inaugural Annual Meeting, held in close cooperation with the government of the People's Republic of China, will bring together the next generation of business leaders with today's global business leaders to examine how this new community can address current global challenges.
"More than ever it is critical for all stakeholders, including the next generation of leaders, to join forces to address global health issues such as rising healthcare costs, the devastating effects of AIDS, the rising burden of chronic diseases and innovations in healthcare," said Jean-Pierre Rosso, Chairman of the Forum's Center of Global Industries. "Until we address these issues together, we will not be able to develop the appropriate global, multifaceted solutions these complex problems require."
To facilitate discussions on these vital matters, the Health Team of the World Economic Forum has designed a special programme for the Meeting in Dalian - Health@Dalian.
The programme consists of a series of public and private sessions that will take place as a part of the overall Meeting in Dalian.
The aim of Health@Dalian is to stimulate collaboration and action on global health problems, including chronic and infectious diseases, and will focus on the role businesses can play in addressing these issues.
Health@Dalian reflects the World Economic Forum's ongoing commitment to engaging in the global health arena and to crafting innovative solutions to tackle these issues.
Specifically, the Health@Dalian agenda will cover the following topics:
-The Business Case for Tackling AIDS
-The Future of Healthcare and Pensions in China
-Facing a Dual Burden: Prevention of Chronic Diseases
-Healthcare Innovation in Emerging Markets
-New Frontiers in Biotechnology and Nanotechnology
-Engaging in the fight against AIDS has been a key focus of the Forum. This issue is particularly pertinent to China where infection rates and the number of reported cases have seen a steep increase.
The Forum has worked in close partnership with the Chinese government on this issue through the China Health Alliance (CHA), which brings together government, business, NGOs and international organizations to address the problem through workplace programmes.
In the Health@Dalian programme, key CHA partners, including Accenture, Becton Dickinson & Company, NovaMed Pharmaceuticals, Standard Chartered Bank, UNAIDS, UNDP and the WHO, will provide their perspective on health issues and the benefits of working in alliances to address the topics.
"Global health issues, such as AIDS, are becoming more prominent and there is urgent need for public-private partnership," explained Peter Piot, Executive Director of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). "The World Economic Forum and the Ministry of Health in China have created a powerful platform for discussions, which we hope will get us one step closer to the solutions we need."
Commenting on the announcement, Klaus Schwab, Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum, said, "I'm delighted to welcome the Premier's participation in Dalian - he will provide the meeting with a visionary framework for our discussions. Indeed, the idea of this meeting was born out of talks the Premier and I had two years ago during a visit to Beijing. The meeting is already well on track to becoming, alongside our Annual Meeting in Davos, the foremost meeting of global leaders from all sections of society, from all areas of business and from all regions of the world. Indeed, some are already calling it a ‘summer Davos'. The Forum has a long and illustrious history in China, working with the leadership of the country and holding meetings there for more than 25 years. We are already looking forward to our second Annual Meeting of the New Champions which will again be held in China next year."
The meeting will focus on the role the new generation of fast-emerging multinational companies - the New Champions - are playing in substantially changing the global business landscape. Participants from 90 countries have already signed up and more than 1,700 participants are expected to take part.
Participants include business leaders from the fast growing companies as well as leaders from global corporations. They will be joined by national and international political figures, leaders of the world's most competitive cities as well as the fastest growing regions and states, experts from the world of Web 2.0, members of the Forum's community of Young Global Leaders, and the international media, to exchange ideas and share new perspectives.
The Inaugural Meeting of the New Champions and the community formed by those attending will be supported and served by the World Economic Forum's recently opened Beijing office. The office will continue to expand and evolve into the strategic and administrative centre for the community of Global Growth Companies, helping those companies take on and develop their worldwide responsibilities.
By People's Daily Online
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