The 7th conference of the global health initiative of Qatar Foundation will take place in Doha on November 13 and 14 and highlight the need for innovation in health to support everyone, especially among vulnerable societies and in areas of armed conflict.
Lord Ara Darzi, executive chair of WISH and director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London, said: “This year’s WISH comes at a time of great suffering and inadequate health provision for vulnerable populations, such as civilians in Gaza. It is of the utmost importance that we consider the cost of inaction at a systematic and a human level.
“At WISH 7 in November, it is vital that we make the most of a precious opportunity to look for solutions to pressing global health challenges. The solutions that the global WISH community seek must be equitable and foster resilience; they must humanise health.”
This year, WISH has entered a strategic partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO), involving collaboration in the development of a series of evidence-based reports and policy papers, as well as the support of WHO in a post-summit implementation strategy.
With an evidence-based approach to developing innovative, practical solutions to some of global health’s most pressing challenges, the reports aim to provide policy recommendations that deal with how best to provide care at an individual, human level.
Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general at WHO, said: “WHO is deeply grateful to Her Highness Sheikha Moza bint Nasser, Chairperson of Qatar Foundation, WISH, and Qatar’s Ministry of Public Health for bringing partners together to discuss conflict, equity, resilience and other pressing global health challenges, and to identify evidence-based solutions to promote, provide and protect the right to health.
“As disturbing as the number of conflicts in our troubled world is the increasing frequency of attacks on healthcare. These attacks deprive people of lifesaving health services at the time they need them most.”
Within the overall theme, November’s global gathering will feature four ‘tracks’, categorising sessions into sub-themes: Health and armed conflict, covering pain management, disability, hunger and mental health; Health of vulnerable and minority populations, considering TB in refugees and migrants and palliative care; System level innovation and change, such as antimicrobial resistance and the ethics of AI in health and community-led engagement and interventions, including obesity and women’s cancers in the region.
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