World Economic Forum
The World Economic Forum (WEF) is an independent not-for-profit international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. The WEF has developed an integrated value chain by involving world leaders in communities, inspiring them with strategic insights and enabling them through initiatives. To this aim, it organizes regional and global meetings, among them its renowned meeting in Davos, where world leaders can discuss current challenges.
World Heart Federation partnership with the WEF
Workplace Wellness
The World Heart Federation and the WEF have now taken their collaboration one step further through a WEF new initiative, Working Towards Wellness. This innovative project, aimed at improving the health of employees globally, will help businesses, health experts and policy-makers to work together to address and prevent the key risk factors that threaten employee health. It acknowledges that chronic diseases impair productivity and lead to associated costs. The World Heart Federation is very pleased to have been chosen as a key partner of the initiative along with the World Health Organization, and is looking forward to implementing the recommendations of the steering group.
The wellness initiative helps companies to take practical steps to adopt or review established health programs that improve employee wellness. These range from offering classes to educate workers on healthy living and risk factors, to providing healthy food options to employees through company dining areas, creating incentives to encourage healthy lifestyle choices among employees, and include basic health screenings. As part of the initiative a series of workshops for stakeholders take place to share best practices and learn about new advances.. During workshops participants develop drafts of wellness principles and set the basis for building a strong stakeholder network that shares research and expertise.
The World Heart Federation emphasized companies’ need to extend their commitment to employee wellness beyond their headquarters and to include factory workers in low- and middle-income countries. A creative public-private partnership pilot project has been launched together with GlaxoSmithKline in India to identify feasible and affordable strategies for reducing chronic disease among employees in low- and middle-income countries.
To know more about the initiative, read the press release.
Joint Event on Chronic Disease Prevention in the Workplace (Dalian, People’s Republic of China, 5-6 September 2007) : Experts and delegates from the World Economic Forum’s Inaugural Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Dalian took part in the first joint World Economic Forum and World Health Organization event to create and stimulate effective workplace wellness programmes.
WEF meeting participation
The World Heart Federation has been a regular guest of the Davos meeting, which represents a great opportunity for the organization to speak out on cardiovascular disease awareness and prevention and on associated risk factors such as obesity.
2007 Meeting
At the 2007 meeting in Davos, the World Heart Federation participated in the session “ An ounce of prevention”. The subject of this session was the World Economic Forum's Working Towards Wellness initiative, which facilitates and stimulates greater business engagement in the fight against chronic disease through employee wellness programmes.
The discussion was focused on the impact of rising levels of chronic disease on global employers and on the effectiveness of workplace wellness schemes in preventing chronic diseases.
The critical factors necessary for successful adoption of public private partnership in preventing chronic diseases were also discussed.
2006 Meeting
The World Heart Federation was invited to chair a breakfast on Workplace Wellness initiatives.
2005 Meeting
This was the second time the World Heart Federation was invited to participate in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum, around the theme "Taking the Responsibility for Tough Choices". It was held in Davos from 26 to 30 January 2005.
In 2005, the World Heart Federation was involved in the following discussions:
- "Healthy Priorities for the Media" : discussion about the concrete steps that should be put in place to make global health more comprehensive and less focused on scandals.
- “Stopping healthcare’s spending epidemic” : discussion about the increased costs of new treatments and drugs.
- "Organics of the World, Unite!": discussion about how organic foods represent a serious critique of current foods.
- "Living a Little Too Large": session that offered opportunity to stress the role of the industry and the governments to fight obesity.
"Healthy Priorities for the Media"
SARS, AIDS and drug scandals frequently capture the headlines but other health issues rarely make the news despite their importance.
- How can other health issues be publicized?
- What concrete steps could be put in place to make global health reporting sexier and more comprehensive?
"Stopping Healthcare's Spending Epidemic"
Healthcare spending eats up 10% of GDP in rich countries, but those that spend the most do not necessarily get the best national care. Without systemic reforms, expenditures will continue to increase with very little to show for the investment.
- How can healthcare systems bear the cost of expensive new treatments and drugs?
- Is more competition in the provision of healthcare part of the solution, or will this simply exacerbate problems of disparity? What about trends in healthcare outsourcing?
- How can countries generate the political will to push through tough healthcare reforms?
"Organics of the World, Unite!"
Organic foods and lifestyle choices are increasingly popular among affluent consumers.
But the rapid rise in demand for organic foods is more than just an elitist fad.
Instead, it represents a serious critique of current food production methods.
- What are the social drivers of the organic movement?
- Are organic foods really more nutritious than normally produced food?
- What are the implications of a rise in the consumption of organic products for the environment, health and sustainability?
"Living a Little Too Large"
Obesity is not just a question of diet but also of lifestyle. Concerted action is needed to change behaviour that encourages obesity before the cost overwhelms societies and economies.
- What is the impact of obesity on economies and how will the problem evolve?
- What can governments and industry do to influence private diet and lifestyle choices?
2004 meeting
The World Heart Federation challenged the food industry at the World Economic Forum in Davos (21-25 January 2004) and was involved in the three following sessions:
Reducing the size of obesity problem Who is responsible for your health? Setting the 2004 agenda: Health