Summit convenes experts to find fresh ideas for global health

World leaders and policymakers have gathered in Qatar to discuss innovative solutions to the most pressing global health challenges.

The inaugural World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), taking place on 10 and 11 December in Doha, showcases a practical range of recent innovations from around the world including technological advances, new business models and design-based solutions.

Under the patronage of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, WISH brings together more than 600 global health innovators and policymakers including heads of state, ministers, senior government officials, academics and influential business leaders from over 60 countries.

Professor the Lord Darzi of Denham, Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI) at Imperial College London, is the Executive Chair of WISH. “Healthcare is facing some of its greatest ever challenges, and if we are to succeed in tackling them, all nations must find new and innovative ways to treat and prevent illness,” he said. 

Professor Lord Darzi

“We want to inspire people to take up the best ideas and implement them in countries all over the world, closing the gap between what we know and what we do.  And by bringing together people with the power to make a real difference, our ambition is to help improve the health of people everywhere."

Before the summit, teams of international experts drawn from academia, industry and policy were commissioned to carry out policy research into eight topics: accountable care, antimicrobial resistance, big data and health, end-of-life care, mental health, obesity, patient engagement, and road traffic injury and trauma care. Their findings were reported at the summit.

Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett, Executive Chair of the IGHI at Imperial, chaired the forum on end-of-life care. "How we care for the dying is a litmus test of a good health system and a responsible society.

"Health systems have to change and embrace the need to develop innovative approaches and technologies for end-of-life care. All resources in society have a role to play – families, communities, health and care providers and technology."

Keynote speakers at the summit include Simon Stevens, President of Global Health Division, United Health Group; Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, Chairperson of Myanmar’s National League for Democracy; Boris Johnson, Mayor of London; and John Dineen, President and CEO of GE Healthcare.

Sir Thomas Hughes-Hallett chairs the session on end-of-life care