Støre speaks at CSIS in Washington DC on World Health Day

On April 7 the CSIS Global Health Policy Center in Washington D.C. held a luncheon with Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jonas Gahr Støre.

“Norway has been a long time visionary,” said moderator Lisa Carty, Deputy Director and Senior Adviser at CSIS.

Støre delivered remarks on the need for a stronger strategic focus of global health as a foreign policy issue. He spoke on the importance of increased awareness of common vulnerabilities and new paradigms of cooperation and accountability. 

At the CSIS Støre said: “I am encouraged to see the new US administration give high priority to maternal and child health. I was pleased yesterday to note how Secretary Clinton responded to my invitation for closer cooperation between Norway and the US on these issues”.

Støre told the audience while he was serving at the World Health Organization with Dr Gro Brundtland from 1998, he discovered how much more there is to health – and global health – than the strict medical side of the issue. “I did so by seeing, listening and experiencing, and by working with some extraordinary people from the global health community – a few of which are here today,” said the Foreign Minister.

“We must find productive ways of promoting cooperation, forming alliances based on ideas and concrete issues. The challenges on the health agenda are global. Our responses have to be global as well,” concluded the highly respected Norwegian Minister.

Source:  Center for Strategic and International Studies / Regjeringen

To see the video or listen to the audio from the event click here.