Article on the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting in Polokwane on 6–7 November 2025

Under the theme “Solidarity, Equality, Sustainability,” South Africa is the first African country to hold the G20 Presidency. As in previous years, there was once again a dedicated G20 Health Track with an assigned Health Working Group. The highlight was the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting, which took place from 6 -7 November 2025 in Polokwane, South Africa. Germany was represented on site by Federal Minister of Health Nina Warken, sending an important signal of support for the South African Presidency. In addition to the G20 members, guest countries as well as numerous international organizations took part. The G20 Presidency issued a Chair’s Statement at the end, as the United States and Argentina blocked the adoption of a G20 Health Ministers’ Declaration. The Chair’s Statement reflects the consensus of the vast majority of members on many, including contentious, issues of the Presidency.

A fundamental principle within the G20 framework is that each Presidency independently sets its thematic priorities. The South African G20 Presidency set the following thematic priorities for the Health Track, which were well-chosen from the German perspective: Universal Health Coverage (UHC), pandemic prevention, preparedness and response (PPPR), non-communicable diseases (NCDs), health workforce, science and innovation in healthcare, and tuberculosis.

Based on these priorities, technical negotiations on the text were held within the Health Working Group prior to the conference. The text was intended to be adopted in the form of a declaration at the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting. Many G20 countries engaged actively in the negotiations, including Germany, which strongly supported South Africa’s leadership from the onset. The negotiations were shaped by the sometimes very different views of G20 partners on certain topics, especially regarding the central role of the WHO, the Pandemic Agreement, the ongoing negotiations on the Pathogen Access and Benefit Sharing (PABS) Annex, and the impacts of climate change. The final technical negotiation round took place in the days leading up to the G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting in Polokwane.

Despite the differing positions among G20 members, South Africa succeeded - through highly diplomatic and respectful negotiation leadership - in finding compromises on many contentious issues. Germany succeeded in ensuring that important aspects were reflected in the text, such as the commitment to the role of the WHO, the value of multilateralism, support for the Pandemic Agreement, and recognition of the impacts of climate change on health and health systems worldwide. Germany’s intervention also led to the inclusion of the WHO Hub for Pandemic and Epidemic Intelligence in Berlin in the negotiation text.

South Africa’s objective was to have the agreed text adopted as a declaration by the G20 Health Ministers at the meeting. However, the United States, supported by Argentina, had already indicated in advance that they would not endorse a declaration.

Due to the G20’s consensus principle, South Africa decided instead to issue a Chair’s Statement incorporating the previously negotiated positions from the Health Working Group. In her subsequent speech, Minister Warken emphasized that Germany would have preferred a declaration. However, she highlighted the adoption of the Chair’s Statement as a major success for South Africa, as it was supported by the vast majority of G20 members. In light of the current difficult global political climate, this is by no means a given and shows that multilateralism still carries weight. The Minister emphasized in her speech that it is important to keep the topic of “health” on the G20 agenda.

Following the Health Ministers’ Meeting, as in previous years, a joint session of the G20 Health and Finance Ministers on PPPR took place, during which three reports from the 2025 work program were adopted. In addition, an independent expert body, the High-Level Independent Panel, presented its recommendations on financing PPPR measures. The Health and Finance Ministers also discussed the future of the Joint Finance and Health Task Force. The United States had announced that, under its G20 Presidency, it would no longer continue the Task Force within the G20 framework, but instead continue its technical work at the World Bank. Minister Warken, supported by the EU, France, Japan, Canada, the UK, Australia, and others, advocated for an interim solution in 2026. G20 partners and international organizations should be involved on a voluntary basis, with the option of bringing the Task Force back under the G20 framework at a later stage.

On December 1, 2025, the G20 Presidency will pass to the United States. Whether there will be a G20 Health Track is currently unclear.