Global Alliance Day 2023

Global Alliance Day for the Promotion of Physical Activity 2023 at the Sports, Medicine and Health Summit (SMHS)

Congress Center Hamburg (CCH), Hamburg, Germany

Friday, June 23, 2023

The Global Alliance Day for the Promotion of Physical Activity was held on June 23, 2023 in Hamburg, Germany. The conference was hosted by the European Initiative for Exercise in Medicine (EIEIM) and supported by the Section of Sports and Rehabilitation Medicine of Ulm University Hospital (head of department: Prof. Dr. Jürgen Steinacker).

Global Alliance Day 2023 brought together several key global institutions, stakeholders, scientists and policy makers to present their findings and plans on physical activity and physical inactivity in the population.

Dr. Fiona Bull from the World Health Organization (WHO) reported on the WHO's "Let's be active" initiative. She emphasized the benefits of physical activity and a healthy lifestyle for health and well-being. The goal, she said, is to reach more active people in a healthier world and to give everyone the opportunity to be physically active in their daily lives. Prof. Yannis Pitsiladis represented the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is the task of the global alliance, Pitsiladis said, to create an exchange and join forces worldwide to achieve the goal of higher physical activity rates in the population. The IOC is pleased to support this global alliance, he said.

The World Olympians Association (WOA) is an independent global organization representing some 100,000 Olympians around the world. Its president, Joël Bouzou, was also present at Global Alliance Day as a representative of the Olympians.

Prof. Anastasia Fischer, president of the American College of Sport Medicine (ACSM), participated in the Global Alliance Day. A strategic approach to promoting physical activity is needed to ensure change in a sedentary society, Fischer said. Prof. Juergen Steinacker reported on 139 organizations that have now joined the Global Alliance to Promote Physical Activity.

The next year will be marked by the first joint actions of the various stakeholders.