(MENAFN- The Peninsula) |
The Peninsula
Doha: Qatar Foundation's World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) 2022 opened yesterday, stressing the importance of building more resilient health systems and advancing biotech innovation.
Chairperson of Qatar Foundation(QF), H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser — highlighting the Summit's theme“Healing the Future” — said WISH has always been a summit of big ideas.
“This year our themes are many, with one overarching goal, a search for solutions to enable all of us to live balanced, safe and healthy lives,” H H Sheikha Moza said in her opening remarks.
“This is where sports and exercise play a huge role, as participation is unlimited by age or class, but open to all. Big sporting events have always been a source of inspiration; motivating the State of Qatar to host the FIFA World Cup, breathing new life into our country. Events such as these can inspire us all, here in Qatar and across the world, to re-build our healthcare systems, making them robust and accessible to all.
“We look towards transformative events to inspire individuals and remind them of their responsibility towards their personal health and their community,” she added.
President of Tanzania H E Samia Suluhu Hassan; First Lady of Rwanda H E Jeannette Kagame; First Lady of Sierra Leone H E Dr. Fatima Maada Bio; and a number of ministers, experts, leaders and decision makers attended the opening ceremony of WISH 2022.
Over three days, WISH 2022 will be based for the first time at Multaqa within Education City. The event has gathered global healthcare experts, policymakers, and innovators in Doha to work collaboratively towards building a healthier world.
Celebrating its 10th anniversary, WISH 2022 edition is the first major in-person gathering since 2018.
Executive Chair of WISH Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham highlighted WISH's work and impact made over the past 10 years.
“This has been WISH's mission from the start: to bring people together to develop, to promote, disseminate innovations that can really transform the world. Over the next three days, it is my hope that we can learn together, inspire each other to achieve our shared ambitions. We can show the world how, in place of discord and division, collaboration and corporation can help us meet the challenges we face. With the power of the WISH community, we can promote better health for everyone and broaden access to high quality care for all.
“This is what we mean by healing the future,” he said.
President of Tanzania Samia Suluhu Hassan emphasised the key role that WISH has played in contributing to addressing world's pressing healthcare challenges and influencing governmental policies with the aim to achieve universal healthcare.
“The interest of WISH of having a fair, equitable, and healthy world is clearly reflected by the range of experts gathered here today. I'm witnessing firsthand the enthusiasm of key global players in the health sector to drive efforts to promote healthier and equitable access to health services in order to achieve sustainable development. Certainly, today's conference is a step in the right direction and I'm in full support of it,” she said.
She said Tanzania values the partnership with WISH, and is keen to expand the country's collaboration around a healthier, fair, and equitable healthcare system for its people.
Minister of Public Health H E Dr. Hanan Al Kuwari was also in attendance, as well as Dr. Ahmed Al Mandhari, the Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean of the World Health Organization. Ministerial delegations from 16 countries were also present, including those from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.
An audience of international and local delegates heard from the keynote speaker Dr. Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of Moderna, the maker of a key vaccine for COVID-19.
“The efforts of all of us in this room to advance human health are taking place against the backdrop of what we call a health care system, but in reality is a sick care system. We spend an enormous amount of time, effort, and money treating people once they are sick, rather than trying to keep them healthy.
“By waiting for disease to manifest, costs are higher, preventing many from accessing care, and outcomes are worse. Early detection that preempts disease or reverses or manages a pre-disease condition could offer a solution to healthcare inequities. We call this preemptive health: the application of leading-edge biological sciences and digital technology to traditional public health goals,” said Dr. Afeyan.
The summit will discuss four core themes of sports and health, disability and inclusivity, post-COVID-19 legacy, and wellbeing.
The opening ceremony also featured an expert panel discussion on 'Building Health System Resilience; a roadmap for navigating future pandemics'.
Speaking at the panel, the Minister of Public Health highlighted the ability of Qatar to counter urgent health challenges and overcome all hurdles facing it, pointing out to the success the Qatari health system has made in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic.
She emphasised that the measures taken by Qatar were the best among the other measures in the region and worldwide, where their outcomes were evidently impressive.
The summit also discusses challenges and solutions in topics such as mental health of health and care workers, vaccine and pharmaceutical innovation, Islamic ethics and the healthcare of children in the age of genetics, mental health and sports, climate change, food security and health, patient empowerment through patient-focused digital tools, future hospitals; COVID-19 legacy, and healthcare waste management and sustainability.
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