At the 2025 World Health Summit in Berlin, Germany, Vital Strategies joined global leaders, partners and technical experts to spotlight the essential role of data in building more resilient and equitable public health systems.
Across sessions focused on cancer registries, civil registration and vital statistics, and the prevention of noncommunicable diseases, Vital Strategies and partners emphasized how reliable, country-owned data powers more targeted prevention, guides effective policies and saves lives.
From innovation in cancer registries to the launch of new tools and campaigns on death data and cancer prevention, these conversations shared a unifying message: When countries invest in essential data systems that capture and use accurate death and disease data, they have evidence that can prevent illness and save lives.
Innovation in Cancer Registries: Turning Data into Action
Cancer claims 10 million lives each year, yet in many countries, the true scale of the disease remains unseen.
Vital Strategies and the Union for International Cancer Control hosted a panel discussion, “Lives in Focus: How innovation in cancer registries is advancing national cancer control plans and patient outcomes,” to explore how stronger data systems are helping governments turn visibility into action.
The session highlighted how countries are using cancer registries to guide national cancer control plans, improve screening and treatment, and link data to civil registration and vital statistics systems. New approaches, from digital reporting tools to regional training hubs, are expanding the reach and quality of cancer data in low- and middle-income countries. Cancer registries are not just technical tools—they’re essential public health infrastructure.
The Lifesaving Potential of Death Data: Shaping Health Policies That Save Lives
Every year, nearly 45 million deaths go unrecorded globally, mostly in low- and middle-income countries. Without high-quality, accurate data, governments lack a complete picture of disease patterns and causes of death, making it difficult to plan or allocate resources effectively.
The Bloomberg Philanthropies Data for Health Initiative convened global leaders and technical experts for “The Lifesaving Potential of Death Data,” a session that marked the global launch of a new Data for Health Initiative campaign that highlights the global challenge of unrecorded deaths and calls for greater investments in civil registration and vital statistics (CRVS) systems that turn death data into lifesaving action.
The event included a panel discussion on how stronger CRVS systems, including cause of death data, can transform public health decision-making. Speakers shared country examples, lessons learned and human stories behind death data.
How Brazil’s Experience Can Guide Global Cancer Prevention
Launched alongside the World Health Summit, “Confronting the Global Cancer Crisis” is a new interactive story developed by Vital Strategies and Citizen Codex that explores how Brazil’s experience tackling noncommunicable diseases can guide global prevention efforts.
Drawing on findings from the Global Burden of Disease Study and Vital Strategies’ own research, the tool visualizes the impact of key risk factors—including alcohol, tobacco, unhealthy diets, and air pollution—on cancer mortality. One insight: one less drink a day could prevent more than 155,000 cancer deaths in Brazil over the next 25 years.
Released during the Summit, the latest Global Burden of Disease Study from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation underscored the urgency of prevention, showing that noncommunicable diseases now account for nearly two-thirds of global deaths and disability.
By connecting data to everyday life, the platform shows how smart, evidence-based policies, like health taxes and marketing restrictions, can save lives and strengthen economies.
The World Health Summit was a moment of collaboration and renewed purpose for our team. Together with partners and colleagues from around the world, we shared ideas and strategies to strengthen public health systems and close the gaps that still leave too many lives uncounted. The conversations in Berlin reaffirmed our shared belief that reliable, inclusive data is the foundation for stronger policies, smarter investments and healthier communities.