Qatar Foundation, Imperial College unite to tackle global healthcare challenges

A network of influential health leaders from around the world have gathered at the Global Health Policy Summit, with the aim of sharing knowledge and experience in addressing some of the most pressing healthcare issues facing the global community today.

The high-profile event, held at The Guildhall in London, was jointly organised by Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) and Imperial College London’s Institute of Global Health Innovation (IGHI).

Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, called on the global healthcare community to build a common front in tackling health issues in new and innovative ways.

“I hardly need say that disease knows no borders – and neither can our efforts to coordinate and improve prevention and treatment,” she told delegates at the summit. “The provision of quality, accessible and affordable health services is one of the most daunting challenges we face today.”

Announcing that next year’s summit will be organized in Doha by Qatar Foundation, Her Highness Sheikha Moza added, “Our summit next year in Qatar will bring together health innovators and reformers from around the world to exchange ideas, learn from international experience and collaborate in developing the new solutions we so urgently need.  We hope that the annual health summit in Qatar will become a natural counterpart to our annual WISE event (the World Innovation Summit for Education) which is for the global education sector.”

At the summit in London, over 500 delegates convened to discuss the challenges faced by practitioners and policy-makers in areas including maternal health, primary care, ageing societies, and digital innovation in healthcare.  Prime Minister David Cameron, who addressed the delegates at the closing session, hailed the significant gathering of global clinicians, policy makers, investors and entrepreneurs.

Qatar Foundation President Dr Mohammad Fathy Saoud acknowledged the significance of globalised partnerships to meet future challenges that adapt to changing healthcare needs.

“We at Qatar Foundation are strong advocates and believers of creating partnerships and exploring synergies, sharing knowledge and experience,” he said. “We are dedicated and committed to support innovative initiatives, wherever they emerge from around the world and thus aspire to contribute in addressing humanity’s common challenges.”

Speaking at the summit, Professor Lord Darzi of Denham, Chairman for the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College and co-Chair of the Summit said, “It is a great privilege to be working so closely with the Qatar Foundation at such an important summit, focusing on how we develop the best health care systems, with the widest access, to secure the sustained health improvements the people of the world demand. We are immensely grateful for the enthusiastic support, participation and leadership of the Qatar Foundation.”

The summit is aligned with the vision of Her Highness Sheikha Moza and represents her commitment to raising the standards of healthcare nationally to meet standards of healthcare at the global level.

Through a number of QF research-health initiatives, including partnerships with Imperial College London, such as Biobank Qatar, Qatar Robotic Surgery Centre and Qatar Cardiovascular Research Center, this vision is now being realised in many areas of research-driven health based on centers of excellence in stem cell, cancer research, proteomics, genomic medicine, maternal and child care provision.

Participants at the summit took the opportunity to discuss critical issues in detail by drawing on a new set of policy discussion documents that have been developed by leading experts in international working groups. In these papers, specialists analysed international success stories, identified innovations with the potential to make a difference and derived practical lessons for health leaders.

During panel sessions, participants also shared best practice in healthcare, resulting in the drafting of white papers on crucial themes that will form the basis of next year’s summit in Doha. This will reinforce Qatar’s visionary National Healthcare Strategy that sets out long-term goals for healthcare in Qatar, and is directly linked to the country’s National Vision 2030 and National Development Strategy.