WISH 2015 announcement includes six new health research forums

Source: Qatar Telegraph

THE second round of a global initiative by Qatar Foundation (QF) that aims to inspire and drive forward innovation in healthcare will be stages in Doha next February

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) will take place from 17-18 February 2015, it was announced on 25 June 2014, and six new research forums are being set up in preparation for the Summit, to ad- dress some of the most challenging issues in global health.

Chaired by internationally renowned experts, the forums will produce interdisciplinary, evidence- based reports on topics including how to deliver affordable cancer care, dementia, diabetes, and well-being in children and young people.

“Qatar Foundation is proud to have established theWorld Innovation Summit for Health, which aims to en- sure impactful outcomes in healthcare innovation in Qatar, regionally and globally,” said Engineer Saad Ebrahim Al Muhannadi, President, QF.

“The inaugural summit in 2013 established a dynamic framework for creating a global community of healthcare leaders to find innovative solutions to the most important glob- al health challenges. Building on this exceptional success, evidenced by the quality and influence of its published reports, the delivery of enhanced healthcare around the world is driving the wheels of innovation ever further.

“The international collaboration of the WISH stakeholders will surely achieve sustainable and tangible improvements to global healthcare policies and systems,” he added. More than 1,000 delegates from 67 countries attended the WISH summit in December 2013, and Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, Executive Chair,WISH, and Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, said: “Innovation is the answer to achieving better health for all of us, and the commitment to making this a reality at WISH 2013 was inspiring to witness.

“We need to understand what drives the implementation of innovation throughout global health systems, soWISH will continue to grow in ambition, impact and reach over the coming years.”

Egbert Schillings, Chief Executive Officer,WISH, said that this was an exciting time to be taking up his new role, asWISH becomes “a leading influence within the global healthcare system. In the coming months,” he went on, “we will be working hard to build on the success of last year’s summit by developing our global community of innovators and sup- porting research into the most urgent healthcare challenges.”