Associate professor Özge Karadağ Çaman, an academic at Hacettepe University's Public Health Institute, attended the 10th World Health Summit organized in Berlin, Germany as a "Young Leader Physician," representing Turkey.

The summit, which is one of the world's most prominent strategic forums for global health, started with a large turnout on Sunday and the same is expected for its conclusion today.

Speakers included German Chancellor Angela Merkel, ministers from a number of countries, WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus and Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates.

Çaman attended the summit as a "Young Leader Physician," representing Turkey and delivered the keynote speech during the opening ceremony of the summit. In her speech, she said she wished for a global focus on health care by putting national borders aside.

Sponsored by the Yunus Emre Institute's Academic and Scientific Cooperation Project of Turkey (TABİP) under the auspices of the Presidency of the Turkish Republic, Çaman emphasized that sustainable development goals should be discussed in view of concrete actions rather than theoretical concepts.

Stating that the summit would draw attention to the inequalities across the globe, Çaman said, "I wish we could discuss how to minimize the inequalities among vulnerable or disadvantaged population groups and people by sharing our sources, experiences, good practice examples and knowledge. I hope that we could ponder throughout the meeting how we could cooperate and work more to help humanity."

A healthy environment for healthy people

Expressing that she expected the summit to focus on the "One Health" concept, Çaman said, "We know that it is impossible to protect people's health alone without protecting animal, plant and environmental health. Therefore, I believe that we need to discuss how we can implement the 'One Health' concept in all policies and what tangible steps can be taken to promote the concept."

She also stated that world peace is at the root of all global health care issues and therefore world peace is a prerequisite to achieve global health care targets.

Çaman currently studies health and access to health care services of vulnerable and disadvantaged groups such as the youth, immigrants, refugees and disabled individuals, social participation in healthcare services, health promotion, mental health of society, healthy cities and sustainable development. In addition to her research and teaching activities at Hacettepe University, she has been providing counseling services on public health for various United Nations agencies, European Union organizations, public bodies and nongovernmental organizations for more than 15 years.

TABİP project

The TABİP project has been introducing Turkey-based academic and scientific studies to the world, presenting these studies on international platforms, and supporting Turkey's academic and scientific endeavors. Conducted by the Yunus Emre Institute (YEE), the project also provides proper conditions for Turkey to improve its qualified human resources and run science diplomacy activities on a global scale.

The global network and contributions presented through this project to all national institutions and organizations will soon be available on its website, www.tabip.global.