Ilona Kickbusch

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  • Ilona Kickbusch (born 27 August 1948 in Munich, Germany) is a German political scientist best known for her contribution to health promotion and global health.[1][2][3] She is currently adjunct professor at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva.[4]

Early in her career, Kickbusch contributed to the first academic studies in Germany on consumer-centered health care, the self-help and the women's health movement.

After joining the World Health Organization (1981–1998) she was appointed to lead the Global Health Promotion Programme, followed by senior positions at the regional and global level of the organisation. During her time at WHO, she had a distinguished career at both the regional and global level. She was responsible for the Ottawa Charter for Health Promotion in 1986[citation needed], a seminal document in public health, as well as for the subsequent global conferences in health promotion. She also initiated the first comparative WHO study of women's health in Europe, Women's Health Counts.

In 1998, Kickbusch joined Yale University to head the new Global Health Program at the Yale School of Public Health until 2004. On returning to Europe, she took up senior positions as chairperson of the World Demographic & Ageing Forum, St Gallen, (2005),[5] and chair of Global Health Europe[6] (2009).

In 1999, Kickbusch was the candidate of the German government for the position of Regional Director, WHO Europe; the post went to Marc Danzon instead.

Since 2008, Kickbusch has been serving as director of the Global Health Programme[7] (2008) at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva. In addition, she teaches regularly at several academic institutions including the University of St. Gallen (HSG), Switzerland. Today, Kickbusch advises organisations, government agencies and the private sector on policies and strategies to promote health at the national, European and international level. She has published widely and is a member of several advisory boards in both the academic and health policy arenas. She has received many awards while contributing to innovations in health throughout her career.[8] (HiAP).

In 2017, Kickbusch co-chaired a health crisis simulation at the G20 Health Ministers meeting in Berlin, together with David L. Heymann from Chatham House. In 2018, she was appointed by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom to serve on the Independent High-level Commission on noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), co-chaired by President Tabaré Vázquez of Uruguay; President Maithripala Sirisena of Sri Lanka; President Sauli Niinistö of Finland; Veronika Skvortsova, Minister of Healthcare of the Russian Federation; and Sania Nishtar, former Federal Minister of Pakistan.[9] Also since 2018, she has been serving on the joint World Bank/WHO Global Preparedness Monitoring Board (GPMB), co-chaired by Elhadj As Sy and Gro Harlem Brundtland.[10] In 2021, she was appointed to the WHO's Council on the Economics of Health For All, chaired by Mariana Mazzucato.[11]


  • Partiipation on Humanity Rising


See Also