Germany’s Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken at the One Health Summit in Lyon

At the invitation of the French Government, Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken has marked today’s World Health Day, 7 April 2026, by participating in the One Health Summit in Lyon.

7. April 2026
[Gruppenbild] One Health Summit 2026 in Lyon

Around 1,000 stakeholders from politics, science and academia, organisations, civil society and business have come together to share their ideas across disciplines and national borders. The Minister is accompanied by Parliamentary State Secretary Dr Georg Kippels.

On behalf of Federal Chancellor Friedrich Merz, Minister Warken has followed an invitation by the French President Emmanuel Macron to attend a high-level meeting on reforming the global health architecture that is taking place on the sidelines of the Summit. The Federal Government supports the efforts to reform the global health system so as to make it more efficient and fit for the future.

The Federal Government explicitly supports the initiative by the French Government to promote and advance the topic of One Health at the highest level during its G7 Presidency. Complex health threats are emerging at the interface between humans, animals and the environment and are posing an increasingly complex challenge to our health. Any preventive efforts can only be successful when approached in a multilateral manner. Together with its partners, Germany will drive the necessary reforms to improve coordination, communication and knowledge transfer.

The global health architecture must become more efficient. Our experience from recent years shows that in order to be more effective at preventing pandemics, we need institutions that are capable of taking action, clear responsibilities and a common approach by all member states. Germany will actively shape this process together with WHO – for greater trust, stronger collaboration and a global health architecture that will provide even better protection for people all over the world.

Bundesgesundheitsministerin Nina Warken

With the involvement of the Federal Ministry of Health, several panels will address topics such as zoonotic and vector-borne diseases – an area which, due to multiple factors, is increasingly gaining importance. For instance, 75% of all newly emerging infectious diseases in humans are of animal origin.  Another important topic is antimicrobial resistance (AMR), which has already been placed high on the political agenda during past German G7 and G20 Presidencies. Germany supports the implementation of the 2024 Political Declaration of the UN General Assembly on AMR as well as the establishment of an independent panel of experts for action against AMR by the Quadripartite Alliance (see below).

The One Health Summit 2026 is being hosted in Lyon as part of the French G7 Presidency. Indonesia is acting as a co-host. The Summit is taking place in close collaboration with the Quadripartite Alliance consisting of the World Health Organization (WHO), the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

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