BERLIN — After three days with 300 speakers and 50 sessions, the 12th World Health Summit concluded Tuesday afternoon. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this year"s summit was exclusively digital. Worldwide, more than 6,000 participants from more than 100 nations took part online. The opening session on Sunday, Oct. 25, was followed live by more than 2,000 participants worldwide. The core topic of the World Health Summit 2020 was the COVID-19 pandemic. On the last day of the summit Christian Drosten, head of the Institute for Virology at Charité, pointed out that even in the current situation, other viruses must be kept in mind: "We obviously have to continue to be worried about influenza viruses." In the closing event of the World Health Summit 2020, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made clear: "Collaboration and innovation are the key ingredients to support countries’ efforts to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and accelerate progress towards the SDGs. I have made stronger collaboration with our partners one of my top priorities at WHO.” Detlev Ganten, president and founder of the World Health Summit, also called for international solidarity: "Only by working closely together, we will be able to come out of this crisis and only together we will be able to improve global health, our common noble goal." COVID-19 is also at the core of the closing declaration of the World Health Summit. One of the central points: “No one is safe until all are safe. This global health guiding principle stands at the center of fighting COVID19 and it stood at the center of the virtual World Health Summit 2020. “Health is more than medicine, it is more than basic research, it is the essence of a functioning society. It is a political choice. The WHS calls on decision makers around the world to act according to this principle.” The final declaration is issued by the M8 Alliance, the academic foundation of the World Health Summit. The "M8 Alliance of Academic Health Centers, Universities and National Academies" is a growing network and currently consists of 30 members in 20 countries, including the InterAcademy Partnership, which represents the national academies of medicine and science in 130 countries. The World Health Summit is one of the world"s most important strategic meetings on global health and brings together leading international scientists, politicians, and representatives from industry and civil society. The forum was founded in 2009 to mark the 300th anniversary of the Charité and is under the patronage of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization WHO. — SG