Gareth Presch Joins Advisory Board of Radical Health Festival Helsinki
We are delighted to share that Gareth Presch, Founder & CEO of the World Health Innovation Summit (WHIS) and CEO of the Global Social Prescribing Alliance, has been invited to join the **Advisory Board of the Radical Health Festival Helsink**i — Europe’s premier festival for health and care transformation.
Unlike traditional conferences, Radical Health Festival is a movement: a space where bold ideas meet real action, and where new alliances are forged to drive lasting change in healthcare systems across Europe and beyond.
In 2026, the Festival will focus on Operationalising Precision Health — making prevention-first, person-centred healthcare a reality at scale. Key themes include:
- Innovating policy and regulatory frameworks,
- Rethinking healthcare finance and payment models,
- Enabling precision prevention while safeguarding privacy,
- Updating health data infrastructures,
- Leveraging AI and emerging technologies,
- Engaging health and social care professionals as well as citizens,
- Fostering partnerships between governments, healthcare institutions, tech companies, and researchers,
- Bringing health beyond the medical setting,
- Leading, engaging, and managing change. Advisory Board members:
Ann Aerts Head, Novartis Foundation, Switzerland Her Excellency Amna Fikri, Ambassador to Finland and Estonia, Economic Advisor to the Minister of State HE Ahmed Al Sayegh - Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UAE Joan Guanyabens Manager, TIC Salut Social Foundation, Spain Prof. Maddalena Illario, Professor, Federico II University & Hospital Department of Public Health, Italy Juha Jolkkonen , Executive Director - Social Services, Health Care and Rescue Services Division, Finland Patty Kostkova Professor in Digital Public Health, Director, UCL Centre for Digital Public Health in Emergencies, United Kingdom Jaanika Merilo, Head of eHealth Strategy, Ministry of Social Affairs, Estonia David Novillo Ortiz, PhD Head of Data and Digital Health, WHO, Denmark Mikael Rinnetmäki Innovator and Patient Advocate, Finland Dr. Päivi Sillanaukee, Special Envoy for Health and Wellbeing, Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Finland Anni Tüski (MSW) Advisor in Social and Healthcare and Patient Advocate, The Netherlands
Gareth’s advisory role will focus on how to implement and scale investments in prevention through proven models, including:
- Outcome-based contracts,
- Innovative financing,
- Philanthropy, and
- Blended funding approaches. Commenting on his appointment, Gareth said:
“It’s an honour to join the Advisory Board of Radical Health Festival. We know prevention works, but the challenge is shifting from reactive to proactive care. My focus will be on demonstrating how we can finance and scale prevention globally — improving population health while ensuring long-term economic sustainability.”
At WHIS, we believe in fostering partnerships that enable communities to thrive, and this new collaboration with Radical Health Festival is a natural extension of that mission. Together, we aim to operationalise precision health and accelerate the shift towards prevention-first healthcare systems.
✨ **Radical in Action. Made in Europe. Powered by collaboration. Built for change. **