Busts of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch unveiled at the World Health Assembly

On Monday May 20, on the first day of the World Health Assembly in Geneva, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, together with Agnès Buzyn, French Minister for Solidarity and Health, and Jens Spanh, German Health Minister, unveiled busts of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch at a ceremony attended by the Presidents of the Institut Pasteur and the Robert Koch Institute, Professors Cole and Wieler.

The aim of the ceremony was to honor the two men of science and recognize their contributions to progress in public health. The busts of Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch will be on display at the World Health Organization headquarters. They serve as a reminder that the challenges to which the two scientists devoted their working lives, as well as their view of research as a means of improving patient health, are as relevant as ever – a point that was highlighted in the speeches made during the event.

From left to right : Lothar H. Wieler, President of Robert Koch Institute, Agnès Buzyn, French Minister for Solidarity and Health, Jens Spanh, German Health Minister, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization and Stewart Cole, President of the Institut Pasteur