Part of Salzburg Global's Health Pillar

Group Picture Inside the Schloss Taken Through a Glass

Our Purpose

The Health and Health Care Innovation program series puts people and communities at the heart of systems transformation for healthy societies. 

Through expanding partnerships, the series works with public and private sector decision makers to enhance strategic leadership and foresight, prioritizing patients’ wants and needs in health care and empowering citizens to lead healthier lives.


Why It Matters

Salzburg Global has long been a leading forum for the exchange of ideas on health and health care issues affecting countries worldwide.

At these meetings, agendas have been reset, affecting policy and practice in crucial areas, such as patient safety and patient engagement in medical decision-making.

In 2010, Salzburg Global launched a multi-year series of sessions to crystallize new approaches to global health and health care in the face of emerging challenges affecting us now and set to continue through the coming generation.

All countries face resource constraints in health care. Even in the wealthiest countries, demand for care threatens to exceed supply, and new ways need to be explored to find greater value from existing resources at whatever level they may be.

That search for greater value will be intensified given present secular trends – fiscal pressures, which will not be fully alleviated even if there is sustained growth in parts or all of the world; demographic pressures, again affecting countries in all parts of the world: as a Vietnamese Fellow put it – "Will we grow rich before we grow old?"; new disease profiles arising from globalization and chronic diseases, such as obesity, spreading in developed and developing countries alike; the threat of climate change, requiring both mitigation and adaptation from health care systems.

And, above all, there is the need to focus on the health and well-being of individuals and communities, and how to support these in a coordinated way, rather than on health care as an end in itself.


Our Outputs

Fellows who have participated in Salzburg Global's Health and Health Care Innovation sessions have repeatedly come together to co-create "Salzburg Statements".

These publications address different topics specific to the program at which they were drafted. They help raise awareness of vital issues and serve as an advocacy tool to share with policymakers and people of influence.

This Salzburg Statement was formulated by Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “Centering on Equity: Transforming the Health Science Knowledge System” (October 2024).

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This Salzburg Statement was formulated by Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “Health and Economic Well-Being: Gender Equity in a Post-Pandemic World” (October 2022).

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This Salzburg Statement was formulated by several Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “Building Healthy, Equitable Communities: The Role of Inclusive Urban Development and Investment” (October 2018).

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This Salzburg Statement was formulated by Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “Moving Measurement into Action: Designing Global Principles for Measuring Patient Safety” (September 2019).

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This Salzburg Statement was formulated by several Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “Bridging Worlds: How Can We Use Business and Economic Development Strategies to Support Better Health?” (April/May 2019).

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This Salzburg Statement was formulated by several Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “Bridging Worlds: How Can We Use Business and Economic Development Strategies to Support Better Health?” (April/May 2019).

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In 2019, this Salzburg Statement was issued by concerned scientists, public health professionals, physicians, and child health advocates, along with the International Working Group on Vaccination and Public Health Solutions. 

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This Salzburg Statement was formulated by Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “Changing Minds: Innovations in Dementia Care and Dementia-Friendly Communities” (November/December 2017). 

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This Salzburg Statement was formulated by Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “The Promise of Data: Will This Bring a Revolution in Health Care?” (March 2015).

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This Salzburg Global Statement was formulated by Fellows who attended the Salzburg Global session, “New Paradigms for Behavioral and Mental Health Care” (December 2014).

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Latest Insights

Health Update
Art as a Human Need: Why Evidence Matters
Reflections and future perspectives on research in arts for the mental health of children and adolescents
Jun 25, 2026
Health Feature
Navigating the Noise: How the Digital Information Environment Shapes Our Health
Salzburg Global Fellow Dr. Becky White on infodemics, digital polarization, and why the information environment must be recognized as a determinant of health
May 26, 2026
Health Feature
How Social Listening in Public Health is Turning Community Voices into Action
Salzburg Global Fellow Dr. Kemisola Agbaoye on utilizing AI and community input to identify and meet public health needs in Nigeria
May 04, 2026
Health Feature
Rethinking Our Information Diet
Salzburg Global Fellow Mario Vasilescu on why treating what we read like what we eat, with "info-trition" and mental fitness trackers, could be key to saving our focus and health
Apr 21, 2026
Health Feature
Whose Knowledge Governs?: Community Power and Health Equity
How people-centered models in Brazil and South Africa are involving communities
Apr 20, 2026
Health Feature
Improving Health Outcomes Through Indigenous Data
Salzburg Global Fellow Kirikowhai Mikaere on Indigenous data sovereignty and designing systems for seven generations into the future
Apr 15, 2026
Health Feature
Turning the Tide: How Storytelling Becomes Health Education
Salzburg Global Fellow Phinah Kodisang on reviving South Africa's iconic TV show Soul City for a new generation addressing gender-based violence and HIV risk
Apr 03, 2026
Health
Where Art Meets Insight: Reimagining Health Information Pathways
Impact Fellow Adriane Aguayo reflects on how generative scribing allowed Fellows to reimagine how health information can become meaningful, accessible, and trustworthy
Mar 13, 2026
Health Opinion
Clearing the Information Fog: Improving Health Communication Through Equity and Trust
Salzburg Global Fellow Atiya Anis explains how public health communication should move toward "relevance, credibility, and agency" to effectively resonate in people’s lives
Mar 05, 2026

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