The hosting of Qatar Foundation’s biennial World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) this year has helped highlighting humanizing health in general and particularly in conflict zones. The two-day WISH 2024 Summit, held under the theme ‘Humanizing Health: Conflict, Equity, and Resilience’, brought together over 3000 delegates. They included more than 200 global health leaders and expert speakers to discuss evidence-based ideas and practices in healthcare innovation to address the world’s most urgent global health challenges including the impact of conflict on healthcare, cancer, antimicrobial resistance, mental health and palliative care. Two important health initiatives aimed at controlling and preventing the impact of lifestyle diseases were also launched yesterday at WISH 2024. The initiatives aim to combat obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases while reducing the high prevalence of these conditions in the country. Qatar is set to adopt a proven, data-driven CARDIO4Cities programme designed to address the growing challenges surrounding cardiovascular health. CARDIO4Cities is developed and tested by the Novartis Foundation and it uses data to help policy makers develop better healthcare decisions and strategies. Addressing the closing panel discussion at WISH 2024, Director of Public Health Department, Ministry of Public Health, Sheikh Dr. Mohammed bin Hamad Al Thani said that non communicable diseases cost Qatar QR18.1bn annually, and cardiovascular diseases account for 73 percent of that burden. “We aim to reduce preventable diseases, particularly cardiovascular diseases. It is time for Qatar to implement a targeted and sophisticated intervention to lower deaths from cardiovascular conditions,” he added. Executive Chair of WISH Lord Darzi of Denham at the summit highlighted the strength of Qatar’s health system in and its many successes, expecting that innovations and improvements, progress and success will continue at the global level in the field of health. Reflecting on the summit theme of conflict, equity, and resilience, Dr. Christos Christou, President of Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said he was gravely concerned that attacks on healthcare facilities and workers have become the “new norm”. In a session, experts made a call for greater investment in cancer research and treatment at the WISH 2024 global healthcare summit - warning that, without it, the world’s health systems face severe strain. The “Rebuilding Hope: Healing, Reconstruction, and Resilience” discussion panel, held yesterday as part of the WISH 2024, discussed the health situation in Gaza and ways to overcome the challenges facing relief and medical teams in the sector. Director-General of World Health Organization (WHO) Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus described the situation in the Gaza Strip as “hell,” and as one of the worst and most difficult situations in the world, pointing out that 80 percent of the population is suffering from constant displacement, in light of the lack of safe places to avoid the ongoing Israeli aggression.
