Global health at crossroads: uniting together to overcome challenges, restore trust and advance priorities for a sustainable future

Abstract

The world is currently facing an unprecedented convergence of crises that threaten the core pillars of public health, scientific integrity, and social stability. These challenges are profoundly interconnected and have the potential to exacerbate global inequalities, jeopardize health security, and undermine the progress achieved through decades of international collaboration. Our viewpoint declaration, developed by 366 healthcare workers and scientists from 119 countries across six continents, highlights the urgent need for global solidarity and collective action to address these interconnected global health challenges. As healthcare workers and scientists, we must prioritize the protection of scientific integrity, combat political interference, and restore public trust in the scientific process. This will require a commitment to transparency, ethical responsibility, and evidence-based decision-making that can stand strong in the face of political and social adversity. The COVID-19 pandemic has underscored the critical importance of resilient healthcare systems, emphasizing that preparedness, capacity building and coherent leadership and coordination are essential for future global health crises. In addition, our call for a One Health approach, acknowledging the intricate relationship between human, animal, and environmental health, has never been more pressing, especially as zoonotic diseases and antimicrobial resistance spread across borders. As we confront ongoing wars, environmental destruction, and global persistent health inequalities, it is only through unity, solidarity, collaboration, and innovation that we hope to build a healthier, more equitable world. Together, we must ensure that science and medicine remain a force for good, capable of addressing both the immediate and long-term needs and challenges facing our shared future.

Keywords: Antimicrobial resistance; Artificial intelligence; Climate change; Global health; Healthcare systems; Infectious diseases; Misinformation; One health; Public health; Scientific research.