Against this background, Dr. Jashi presented the landmark initiative “Saving Lives from Sepsis: From Evidence to Impact,” jointly led by the Global Sepsis Alliance and Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM), in collaboration with the World Health Organization (WHO), and supported by a historic grant from the Laerdal Foundation. Working closely with WHO and the WHO-hosted Acute Care Action Network, the collaboration will advance three interconnected flagship initiatives: the first Global Report and Dashboard on the Health System Response to Sepsis, led by WHO with technical input from GSA and SCCM; the 2026–2030 Global Sepsis Research Strategy, developed through a global expert and multi-stakeholder consultation process; and the 10×10×10 Implementation Science Initiative, which will evaluate implementation of WHO sepsis care guidelines and tools across ten countries representing different geographic regions and resource settings.
Dr. Jashi emphasized that this historic collaboration provides an opportunity to move the global sepsis agenda from evidence to measurable country-level impact. By generating stronger evidence on health-system responses, establishing internationally agreed research priorities and testing implementation of proven sepsis interventions across diverse settings, the initiative aims not only to reduce preventable sepsis mortality but also to strengthen emergency, critical and broader acute-care systems. The collaboration among WHO, GSA, SCCM, ACAN partners and the Laerdal Foundation was presented as a model for translating evidence, professional expertise and catalytic financing into action capable of saving millions of lives.
4. Proven, High-Impact Interventions Can Save Lives
Speakers highlighted evidence that relatively simple, standardized and affordable interventions can achieve substantial mortality reductions when implemented effectively and at scale.
Examples included WHO's Basic Emergency Care (BEC) approach and the Safer Births Bundle of Care (SBBC). Experience from implementation programmes demonstrated that structured training, standardized clinical processes and appropriately designed systems can significantly improve outcomes even in resource-constrained environments.
The discussion emphasized the importance of moving beyond repeated small-scale pilots. Once interventions have demonstrated effectiveness, governments and development partners should focus on institutionalization, national scale-up, and integration into routine health services.
5. Health Workforce as the Foundation of Acute Care
Dr. Amanda Fehn and other participants emphasized that successful ECO Care depends fundamentally on the health workforce.
Particular attention was given to nurses, midwives and other frontline health professionals, who constitute a substantial proportion of the workforce responsible for recognizing deterioration and providing emergency and acute care.
Participants called for competency-based training, appropriate task sharing, supportive regulation and policies that enable health professionals to operate at the full scope of their competencies and practice. Building resilient acute-care systems therefore requires investment not only in infrastructure and equipment but also in people, training, leadership and multidisciplinary teamwork.
6. Professional Networks and Multidisciplinary Collaboration
Representatives of the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists, African Federation for Emergency Medicine, IFMSA and other professional organizations highlighted the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration.
Emergency physicians, anaesthesiologists, surgeons, nurses, midwives, critical-care specialists, medical students and other health professionals all contribute to the acute-care continuum. Professional associations can support implementation by developing standards, strengthening education and training, generating evidence and creating professional networks that facilitate knowledge transfer between countries.
Youth and future health professionals were also recognized as important stakeholders in sustaining long-term transformation of acute-care systems.
7. Financing: Moving from Successful Pilots to National Scale
Financing emerged as one of the most important implementation challenges.
Mr. Luc Laviolette, representing the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents (GFF), highlighted the role of catalytic financing in helping countries move successful interventions from demonstration projects toward national implementation.
The discussion highlighted the value of using catalytic grant financing strategically to de-risk innovation, demonstrate impact and leverage larger domestic and development financing. Successful interventions ultimately need to become integrated into government planning and national budgets rather than remaining dependent on individual projects.
The experience of scaling the Safer Births Bundle of Care was presented as an example of how evidence-based interventions can move from pilot implementation toward broader health-system adoption.
8. Investment, Priority Setting and Value for Health
The discussion also addressed the economic and ethical dimensions of investing in acute care.
Prof. Ole F. Norheim brought the perspective of health economics, ethics and priority setting, reinforcing the importance of investing in interventions that can deliver substantial health gains while advancing equity and Universal Health Coverage.
Participants emphasized that strengthening acute care represents not merely additional health expenditure but an investment in preventing avoidable mortality, disability and economic loss. Stronger evidence on cost-effectiveness and return on investment can help Ministries of Health and Finance make the case for sustained domestic financing.
9. Partnership and Catalytic Philanthropy
Mr. Tore Lærdal highlighted the role that strategic philanthropy and long-term partnerships can play in accelerating implementation and supporting innovations capable of saving lives at scale.
The Laerdal Foundation's support for ACAN and global acute-care initiatives, as well as its support for the emerging WHO–GSA–SCCM collaboration on sepsis, illustrates how catalytic philanthropic investment can help mobilize broader partnerships, generate evidence and support the transition from innovative approaches to sustainable programmes.
Conclusions
The WHA79 ACAN side event demonstrated broad agreement that the international community has entered a new phase in the global acute-care agenda: the priority is no longer solely establishing the policy case for emergency, critical and operative care, but delivering implementation at scale.
