WISH BRINGS GLOBAL EXPERTS TO APAC
WISH To Head Panel On Affordable Cancer Care
Doha, Qatar, 20 September, 2015- The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a global initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), is bringing celebrated experts and research content to APAC Forum 2015, Asia-Pacific Region’s premier healthcare forum.
WISH’s objective at the conference is to continue to inspire best healthcare practices while promoting innovation and discussion, remaining closely aligned to the vision and mission of QF to unlock human potential and serve to underscore Qatar’s pioneering role as an emerging centre for healthcare innovation.
At the forum WISH will present its research on ‘Delivering Affordable Cancer Care and Transforming Patient Safety’ in two special break-out sessions on September 24th in Auckland, New Zealand. WISH CEO Egbert Schillings, Professor Robert Thomas, Chief Cancer Advisor at the Victoria Department of Health and Human Services, together with Gianluca Fontana, Director of Imperial College’s Centre for Health Policy, are among confirmed speakers at the world’s third largest healthcare conference later this year.
Cancer is a global health priority and new figures show that there were 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million deaths attributable to the disease in 2012, an increase of over 10 percent in four years. At the same time, the cost of treating cancer is rising at an even faster rate, reaching $300 billion worldwide. Meanwhile, more than 50 percent of all new cancers and two-thirds of the annual cancer mortality worldwide happen in low-income and middle-income countries.
Without profound change, cancer care is too expensive for most patients, many payers and nearly all governments. Professor Thomas, who led the WISH research effort on ‘Delivering Affordable Cancer Care’, will present actionable recommendations that will help policymakers to ‘bend the cost curve’ and ensure sustainable access to cancer care.
Tackling the persistent belief that patient harm is inevitable in health, Mr. Schillings will head a panel, comprised of Imperial College London’s senior policy fellow and director of operations, Centre for Health Policy, Gianluca Fontana and policy fellows, Centre for Health Policy, Jessica Prestt and Didi Thompson.
This session will highlight key findings of this year’s WISH report, ‘Transforming Patient Safety: A Sector-Wide Systems Approach’. The panel will focus attention on the critical issues in patient safety and present innovative efforts to address them, in particular outlining the Leading Health Systems Network (LHSN), a joint initiative of WISH and Imperial College London. Established in 2009, LHSN has worked with 21 health systems in 11 countries helping them to overcome the challenges they face in providing high-value care to the populations they serve.
Mr. Schillings commented: “We are delighted to be partners with APAC Forum to jointly elevate the debate on central issues on the international health policy agenda. Access to safe, high quality and affordable care is a basic human right and the stated goal of all countries. Rather than reinvent the wheel in isolation, health systems can learn a tremendous amount from each other. WISH and APAC Forum are dedicated to making that happen.”
The APAC Forum 2015 will take place over 23 to 25 September at Auckland’s SKYCity Convention Centre in New Zealand.
WISH is a global healthcare community dedicated to capturing and disseminating the best evidence-based ideas in healthcare, providing global solutions that will save both lives and much needed resources. It is an initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), founded by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, its chairperson.
The APAC Forum is designed for health professionals who can influence change.
Last year, the forum convened in Melbourne and attracted over 1500 delegates, including senior managers, board and policy makers, clinicians and quality improvement specialists from throughout the Asia-Pacific region.
Approximately 130 speakers across 42 sessions are scheduled for APAC 2015. Ruby Wax, Professor Charles Vincent; Professor Jonathon Gray, and Itay Talgam are among other high profile speakers confirmed to speak at APAC this year.
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About APAC:
The APAC Forum has fast become synonymous with the ideals of quality, innovation and high performance that it incites. The organisation behind Asia-Pacific’s premier healthcare conference is Ko Awatea. Ko Awatea is the centre for health system innovation and improvement at Counties Manukau’s District Health Board. The organisation is made up of doctors, nurses, researchers, academics, and innovators focused on producing outcomes for frontline healthcare.
http://www.apacforum.com
• Abstracts to display an academic poster at the APAC Forum can be submitted now. Simply follow the online instructions before 31 July 2015.
• For a full breakdown of prices (including group bookings, early bird discounts, gala dinner and pre-forum intensive sessions) please click here.
Media interviews may be available upon request. For more information or to schedule an interview with one of the APAC Forum’s speakers please contact:
Haimona Gray
Communications Officer, Ko Awatea
Phone 021 425 314
Email haimona.gray@middlemore.co.nz
About the World Innovation Summit for Health:
The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) is a global healthcare community dedicated to capturing and disseminating the best evidence-based ideas and practices. WISH is an initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), founded by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, its Chairperson.
The inaugural WISH Summit took place in Doha in 2013 and convened more than 1,000 global healthcare leaders. Through international summits and a range of on-going initiatives, WISH is creating a global community of leading innovators in healthcare policy, research and industry.
Together, they are harnessing the power of innovation to overcome the world’s most urgent healthcare challenges and inspire other stakeholders to action.
Qatar Foundation – Unlocking Human Potential:
Qatar Foundation for Education, Science, and Community Development (QF) is a private, non-profit organisation that is supporting Qatar on its journey from carbon economy to knowledge economy by unlocking human potential, for the benefit of not only Qatar, but the world. Founded in 1995 by His Highness Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, the Father Amir, QF is chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser.
QF’s work encompasses education, research and community development. World-class universities are brought to Qatar to help create an education sector in which young people can develop the attitudes and skills required for a knowledge economy. At the same time, QF builds Qatar’s innovation and technology capacity by developing and commercialising solutions through key sciences. The Foundation also works to foster a progressive society while enhancing cultural life, protecting Qatar’s heritage and addressing immediate social needs in the community.
For a complete list of QF’s initiatives and projects, visit http://www.qf.org.qa
