WISH Summit 2015: Collaborating to innovate for a healthier world

Over 1000 high level policy makers, industry leaders and academics gathered in Doha for the second World Innovation Summit for Health.

‘A healthier world through global collaboration’ was the tagline at the heart of the second World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) hosted by Qatar Foundation last month. 

WISH is a global healthcare community dedicated to capturing and disseminating the best evidence-based ideas and practices, providing global solutions that will save both lives and much needed resources.

The inaugural WISH Summit in 2013 was announced by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation at IGHI’s and the Qatar Foundation’s Global Health Policy Summit in London in 2012, which brought together over 500 ministers, policymakers, thinkers and business and health leaders from over 40 countries to discuss some of the most prevalent global health issues.

Founded by Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, WISH brings together internationally renowned experts, who work with advisory groups to publish evidence-based reports on various healthcare topics each year.

Chaired by a team of experts drawn from academia (including members of IGHI), industry and policymaking, the WISH Forums look in depth at the challenges faced in each area – scanning the literature and interviewing experts in the field. The Forum reports present some of the very best innovations that have been shown to have real impact across the developed and developing world. 

This year’s WISH topics were:

• Communicating complex health messages
• Delivering affordable cancer care
• Dementia
• Diabetes
• Patient safety
• Mental Health and Wellbeing in Children
• Universal Healthcare Coverage
• Healthcare and Ethics: Genomics
• Maternal and Newborn Health
• The Changing Pattern of Infectious Diseases

Inspiring and inspirational keynote speeches were also heard from Dr Donald Berwick, President Emeritus and Senior Fellow of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Mr Mark Bertolini, Chairman, CEO and President of Aetna Inc., and Dr Devi Prasad Shetty, Chairman and Founder of the Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospitals.

The Global Diffusion of Healthcare Innovation 

WISH also provided the opportunity to update us on the progress made on IGHI’s Global Diffusion of Healthcare Innovation (GDHI) initiative.  The GDHI is an assessment of how healthcare systems around the world adopt new innovations and spread them successfully, with the aim of inspiring other countries to adopt the best methods and ideas.

IGHI’s Greg Parston, who has been working on this research in collaboration with the Qatar Foundation said “It takes around 17 years for a new healthcare innovation or idea to get from bench to bedside.  GDHI helps speed that process up, which helps to get those innovations to the people who need them in the fastest way possible”. 

Innovation Showcases

Representing some of the world’s most exciting healthcare innovations - ranging from practical devices and business models, to design-based solutions - the WISH innovation showcases provided a chance for entrepreneurs to exhibit their healthcare innovation in front of some of the world’s leading health experts and decision makers.

Those showcasing their innovation share a common goal: driving forward improvement and excellence in healthcare. Each innovation showcase has the potential to transform global health, both reducing the costs of healthcare delivery and improving the quality of care for patients. WISH provides a platform to enable delegates to engage with these exciting ideas that are changing healthcare from the ground up.

IGHI’s HELIX Centre, which was officially opened by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales last month, participated in the Innovation Showcase to demonstrate their current innovations.  These range from a new mobile app to help children keep track of their asthma and a card game to help keep kids active. 

WISH Executive Chair and Director of IGHI Professor the Lord Darzi said “WISH brings the world to Qatar and Qatar to the world in order to disseminate and diffuse the best practice in global healthcare for generations to come.  WISH's global community is growing rapidly and it is vital we continue to collaborate not just during this two day conference, but the whole year through.  With the dedication and passion of Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser and the commitment and backing from Qatar Foundation, I am convinced we can make this WISH a reality for all”. 

Find out more

• WISH 2015 Forum reports
• Watch the recorded forum sessions and keynote speeches
• Innovation Showcases
• Young Innovators
• Sponsors and Partners  
• WISH 2013 Summit