The Global Wellness Summit (GWS) has announced that its 2021 conference, taking place in Boston Nov. 30 to Dec. 3, will focus on the growing intersection between health and wellness. The theme for the 2021 Summit is “A New New Era in Health & Wellness.”
In a recent McKinsey survey, 79 percent of respondents reported that wellness is now important to them, with 42 percent considering it a top priority. While another new report from Deloitte predicts a major shift in health spending as the U.S. rebounds from the pandemic and addresses its full impact: By 2040, 60 percent of spending will shift from care and treatment toward proactively improving health and wellbeing (creating a “$3.5 trillion wellbeing dividend”), and spending on wellbeing will then make up nearly two-thirds of the total health spend.
“The pandemic woke the world up to the extraordinary importance of both health and wellness, creating a new era in which these sectors and industries will work more closely together for the greater good of all,” says Nancy Davis, GWS’s chief creative officer and executive director. “The 2021 agenda will focus on exploring this convergence, and the theme will come to life in Boston, a city recognized for its far-reaching innovation, its unique investment landscape in bio-tech, and as home to renowned educational institutions such as Harvard and MIT, both of which have given birth to countless startups in health and wellness.”
Co-chairs Michael Roizen, M.D., the first chief wellness officer of the Cleveland Clinic, and Victor Koo, a wellness-focused entrepreneur/investor from Hong Kong, will work with Davis and Susie Ellis, chair and CEO, on the 2021 Global Wellness Summit’s content and agenda.
Roizen, who is also the author and co-author of numerous books focused on health and longevity, including What to Eat When: A Strategic Plan to Improve Your Health and Life Through Food and the New York Times best-seller RealAge: Are You as Young As You Can Be?, embodies this year’s theme of marrying healthcare with wellness.
“Living long well is dependent upon making positive choices, including eating right, sleeping well, exercising regularly, and having friends and purpose,” says Roizen. “I’ve long touted the importance of combining common-sense and evidence-based wellness with standard healthcare practices to prevent illness. Your wellness program is even more important with the coming of the ‘great age reboot’ where positive choices will significantly impact your ability to live younger longer. I’m looking forward to working with the 2021 GWS team to further this significant conversation.”
Koo, a successful entrepreneur who sold his China-based start-up to Alibaba Entertainment, is committed to sharing the benefits of wellness with the world by investing in and supporting innovation that promotes health and sustainability. Koo is chairman of Heyi Holdings and the co-founder and CEO of Tianren Culture, the Global Wellness Institute’s Wellness Moonshot partner in China.
“The importance of health and wellness has taken center stage in all of our lives—and there is recognition that prevention is far better than a cure,” says Koo. “Given the interconnected, global nature of our world, I know how important it is to work across borders and cultures for the common good of all people. The Global Wellness Summit is a key voice and source of influential and innovative ideas around global public health and wellness policies. I look forward to bringing GWS’s message to more wellness seekers around the globe.”
Registration for the 2021 Summit (in person + virtual) is now open. Learn more and register for the 2021 Summit here.
