The hosting of an international health summit by Qatar Foundation in the times when the whole world is striving to enhance global coordination to defeat COVID-19 pandemic is another achievement of Qatar.
Qatar has already done a lot from providing emergency medical assistance to over 70 countries to combat coronavirus pandemic to pledging $20m in support of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) in its fight against the pandemic.
Bringing together more than 60,000 people from around the world, the fifth World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH 2020) – held for the first time virtually – concluded on Thursday. The five-day summit featured more 300 global speakers and 100 sessions as attendees heard from international health ministers, scientists, academics, public health leaders, and policymakers. Also, more than 15 policy-focused research reports were released over the course of the five-day summit.
Chairperson of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF) H H Sheikha Moza bint Nasser inaugurated the WISH 2020 under the banner of “One World, Our Health”. In her opening address, Her Highness highlighted how the pandemic proved that the “health” of every sector depends on the state of the healthcare sector.
In the opening session on November 15, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization, said that the world had a responsibility to ensure that all countries around the world enjoy the benefits of innovation.
WISH also announced two grand prize winners from the 30 winning innovators to be selected as part of their innovation competition. The winner in the Spark Award category, which targeted start-ups, was SOSO Care from Nigeria, a micro mobile health insurance startup that enables people to pay for health insurance with recyclable waste, while the Ellen Medical Affordable Dialysis System from Australia, won the Booster Award for scale-ups.
In conversation with Editor-in-Chief of medical journal The BMJ, Fiona Godlee, during the fourth day of WISH 2020, Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in the US and a member of the White House coronavirus task force, Dr. Anthony Fauci, said that the COVID-19 pandemic will end with an effective and safe vaccine but alongside public health measures.
WISH 2020 covered 10 core research areas, including digital technologies and mental health, the role of schools in child health, health challenges of major sporting events, climate change, and each chaired by recognized experts in the field.
