Cancer care to top Qatar health summit

Manama: Delivering affordable cancer care, dementia and diabetes will be among the topics to be addressed by the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) at its second summit.

Source: Gulf News

The summit will also discuss communicating complex health messages, patient safety and well-being in children and young people when members of its global network of high-level policymakers, academics and industry leaders who diffuse healthcare innovation and best practice meet on February 17 – 18, 2015 in the Qatari capital Doha.

WISH, a global initiative by Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), said that the six research forums aimed to address some of the most challenging global health issues in modern times and that they would produce interdisciplinary, evidence-based reports on the topics.

“Qatar Foundation is proud to have established the World Innovation Summit for Health, which aims to ensure impactful outcomes in healthcare innovation in Qatar, regionally, and globally,” Saad Al Muhannadi, President of Qatar Foundation, said. “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 global 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.”

He added that the international collaboration of the WISH stakeholders would achieve sustainable and tangible improvements to global healthcare policies and systems.

“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,”

Professor The Lord Darzi of Denham, Executive Chair of WISH and Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College of London, said. “We need to understand what drives the implementation of innovation throughout global health systems, so WISH will continue to grow in ambition, impact and reach over the coming years.”

The inaugural WISH summit, in December 2013, brought together more than 1,000 delegates from 67 countries to discuss and debate practical, lasting and innovative solutions to global healthcare challenges.

Egbert Schillings, WISH’s recently-appointed Chief Executive Officer, said that WISH was evolving into a leading influence within the global healthcare system.

“In the coming months, we will be working hard to build on the success of last year’s Summit by developing our global community of innovators and supporting research into the most urgent healthcare challenges,” he said.