Doha: World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a global healthcare initiative of Qatar Foundation, has succeeded in putting healthcare challenges on global agenda.
The journey of WISH since its inception in 2012 has ‘been a fast one’ in terms of growth and impact, said Sultana Afdhal, CEO of WISH.
“Since 2012, we’ve expanded every subsequent year not only in terms of the number of global WISH community members but also in terms of the subjects of dialogue – the topics that our summits tackle, are very relevant and are truly urgent. I would say there are three major contributing factors to WISH’s growth,” she told The Peninsula.
She said that the strong local and international partnerships with people and organisations who share our dream of creating a healthier world and that WISH is not limited to a summit but has ongoing activities implementing best practices across the world.
“WISH has made a great impact across communities – be that the international healthcare community or our local community here in Qatar,” said Sultana.
“Friendships and partnerships forged at WISH are coming to the fore now. Much of this was demonstrated at WISH 2020, as we had several meaningful discussions and sessions going on in partnership with local and international partners such as the Ministry of Public Health, Hamad Medical Corporation, Qatar Charity, US-based The Carter Center, UK based Save The Children, Italian NGO EMERGENCY and many more,” she said.
According to Sultana, at a local level, WISH research continues to feed into the decision making and policy making process in Qatar.
“Our community work such as including those with autism in social activities, or how to provide better care for those with dementia, continues on an ongoing basis,” she said.
Sultana also highlighted about the WISH commissioned reports authored by leading experts and the impact on healthcare systems.
“A number of our reports had fed into policy making deliberations, and that is where we like to feel they add value. For example, our Autism and Dementia reports have contributed to national strategies here in Qatar, and we have received similar feedback internationally – for example a report on delivering affordable cancer care was cited in the Australian Parliament, whereas our diabetes report led to policy change in Panama. We also have a strong focus on nursing and our Nursing and Midwifery report was the first publication under the global Nursing Now initiative,” she said.
WISH 2020 brought together more than 60,000 people from more than 180 countries. It featured more than 300 global speakers including 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.
“WISH 2020 was indeed very different. While it is with great sadness that we could not welcome our community to Doha in person, I am delighted that the switch to a virtual format allowed us to be more inclusive than ever before – reaching parts of the world that we otherwise would remain out of reach.
"It is certainly the case that moving to a virtual platform presented us with different challenges. For example, with a global audience, we have to factor different time zones,” said Sultana.
She said that the Doha Healthcare Week held ahead of the WISH 2020 summit attracted may participants to virtual activities.
