Davos 2024: How health policy is responding to women, digitalization, and climate change

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration of The European Sting with the World Economic Forum.

Author: Kate Whiting, Senior Writer, Forum Agenda

• Urgent action is needed to combat the climate crisis and ensure energy security – for the health of the planet and its people.
• World leaders at the World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos will discuss how to accelerate progress and improve health outcomes.
• Key sessions and reports will look at how climate change affects health, how to close the women’s health gap and how digital tools can transform healthcare.
• Check back here for regular updates throughout the week.

“The climate crisis is a health crisis.”

These were the words of the World Health Organization’s Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the first-ever Health Day at COP28 in December.

The year 2023, the hottest on record, saw life-threatening heatwaves, wildfires, floods, storms and hurricanes.

More than a third of the global population lives in areas that are highly susceptible to climate change, says the WHO, and the health burden is only going to grow.

Tens of thousands more people will die from heat stress and climate-linked diseases including malaria, as well as malnutrition as crops fail each year between 2030 and 2050

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But the health impacts of climate change have a disproportionate impact on indigenous communities and women in particular.

The World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting in Davos will feature discussions on climate, women and health, and three key reports will be launched, which look at the economic impacts of climate change, how to close the gap in women’s health, and how digitalization can transform healthcare for good.

Key sessions to watch

• When Climate Impacts Your Health – Tuesday 16 January, 9:30 CET

As the human dimension of climate change takes centre stage, panellists including Brazil’s Minister of Health, Nisia Trindade Lima, discuss the approaches, evidence and data needed to mitigate the health impact of the climate crisis today.

• Open Forum: Medicine and Women – Tuesday 16 January, 12:30 CET

This session explores where gender research is headed and the most promising applications in research, prevention and care.

• Facing a World without Antibiotics – Tuesday 16 January, 16:15 CET

The global economy loses $36.9 billion a year as a result of super bugs. This session explores how global economic policies can continue to accelerate action on this urgent health issue.

• Fixing Healthcare, Digitally – Wednesday 17 January, 13:15 CET

Digital transformation and AI could revolutionize access to quality healthcare by empowering doctors, detecting diseases and sparking drug discoveries. Join Paula Ingabire, Rwanda’s Minister of Information Communication Technology and Innovation, to discover how multi-sectoral partnerships and actions can power the future of health.

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• Closing the Gender Gap in Health – Wednesday 17 January, 16:15 CET

At every stage of life, millions of women around the world are unable to access the care, treatment and support they need. With only 1% of healthcare R&D invested in female-specific conditions, panellists including India’s Minister of Women and Child Development, Smriti Zubin Irani, discuss the key actions and commitments needed to achieve gender health parity.

• Fighting the Obesity Epidemic – Wednesday 17 January, 17:30 CET

In the past 30 years alone, global levels of obesity have tripled. Here’s how societies and health systems can better prepare for and respond to this challenge.

• Press Conference: Redesigning Healthcare with Women in Mind – Thursday 18 January, 12:00 CET

Data indicates that women spend a greater part of their lives in ill health and disability compared with men and are more likely to have their concerns dismissed, misdiagnosed, or missed altogether when they seek help. This press conference presents new findings on women’s health and calls for a public-private effort to redesign healthcare with women in mind.

• Young Brains and Screens – Thursday 18 January, 16:15 CET

While the power of technology offers many opportunities, it also poses challenges and risks, particularly for the mental well-being of children and young people. This session explores the latest science on the impact of social media on children’s and teenagers’ brains and what is needed to keep them safe in the digital age.

• Open Forum: Turning Back the Clock – Friday 19 January, 9:30 CET

We all want to live longer, healthier and disease-free lives – science can help us achieve that future. This session will explore the latest breakthroughs.

Reports you need to know about

• Quantifying the Impact of Climate Change on Human Health

Launching on Tuesday, 16 January, this new report in collaboration with Oliver Wyman analyzed six major climate-driven event categories as drivers of negative health impacts: floods, droughts, heat waves, tropical storms, wildfires and rising sea levels.

• Closing the Women’s Health Gap: A $1 Trillion Opportunity to Improve Lives and Economies

Launching on Wednesday, 17 January, this Forum report in collaboration with the McKinsey Health Institute looks at the economic implications of the women’s health gap – and suggests how to address it.

• Transforming Healthcare: Navigating Digital Health with a Value-Driven Approach

The climate crisis is just one of the pressures on the global healthcare system. These include a workforce shortage of more than 10 million healthcare workers; rising costs; a growing burden of chronic disease and wasteful spending estimated at around $1.8 trillion, according to the Forum’s Transforming Healthcare report.

• Patient-First Health with Generative AI: Reshaping the Care Experience

This white paper by the World Economic Forum, written in collaboration with ZS, highlights the most promising use cases for patient-facing generative AI solutions, their biggest barriers to adoption and actions stakeholders in healthcare and beyond can take to overcome these barriers. The paper also offers six short case studies illustrating how companies and institutions are already making these use cases a reality.

But healthcare provision is inequitable. Access to healthcare and health outcomes vary massively between countries, with half the world’s population lacking access to essential services. Women, as we’ve seen, often experience poorer health outcomes than men.

Digital health innovations and data-driven digital tools could herald a new era of value-driven healthcare – and help to reduce health inequalities, says the report.

It features examples of lifesaving digital front-end solutions, such as m-mama, an emergency referral system in Sub-Saharan Africa, that transports pregnant women and newborns facing complications to healthcare facilities.