Economist Impact’s Future of Health Europe Summit: Day One

Centred on its main themes of sustainability, inclusivity, and digital health, Day One of the Future of Health summit kicks off post-welcome with a panel: ‘Partnering to build resilient and sustainable health systems’.

On site live blogging, stay tuned for pharmaphorum coverage of this discussion moderated by Economist Impact’s chair of healthcare, Vivek Muthu, concerning bringing key stakeholders together and forming meaningful partnerships – included on the panel are representatives from Bupa, the European Patients Forum, and Janssen EMEA – before an interview taken by Elly Vaughan, senior manager of global health policy at Economist Impact.

The interview will focus on preparing for emergency and recovery with Roland Driece, director of international affairs at the Ministry of Health, Welfare, and Sports in The Netherlands, who is also chair of the WHO Intergovernmental Negotiation Body (INB) for a Treaty on pandemic prevention, preparedness, and response. In short, it asks, will the world be ready for the next health emergency?

Another panel – ‘Are health systems ready for population change?’ – follows, again moderated by Muthu, with panellists including: Jo Etienne, Minister for active ageing in Malta; Josep Figueras, director and founder of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies; Ilona Kickbusch, founding director and chair of the Global Health Centre; and Ammar Qadan, senior vice president of government affairs and market access at Cepheid. The global population set to reach 9.7 billion by 2050, the question is what does this mean for health systems?

Following a networking and refreshment break, a further panel focuses on ‘Responding to the health impacts of climate change’ and looks at what investment is needed to better protect communities from the adverse effects. Moderated by Elizabeth Sukkar, senior research manager of policy and insights and global health policy and insights at Economist Impact, she is to be joined by: Hannah Pathak, international managing director of Forum for the Future; Ian Marnane, head of group for health and environment at the European Environment Agency; and Jane Burston, chief executive at the Clear Air Fund.

After that, the panel ‘Taking action to improve health inclusivity’ explores the challenges across different sociodemographic groups, urging that ensuring health inclusivity is a societal responsibility. Moderated by Emi Michael, global health manager at Economist Impact, panellists will include: Pietro Fiocchi, MEP and ENVI, SANT, and BECA Committee; Ty Greene, lead in health equity at the World Economic Forum; Michele Salter, chair of the Sickle Cell Society; and Bola Akinwale, deputy director of the NHS national healthcare inequalities improvement programme.

There are then a choice of presentations: one on policy changes for better outcomes in inclusivity, given by Mina Gaga, former alternate minister at the Ministry of Health in Greece, or ‘Integrating healthcare with planet care’, to be given by Evelyn Brakema, general practitioner resident at the department of public health and primary care, Leiden University Medical Center, and also chair and co-founder of the Dutch Green Health Alliance (Groene Zorg Alliantie).

Lunch will prelude an afternoon firmly divided into two tracks (Sustainability or Inclusivity), beginning with the panel options of (a) ‘Putting the spotlight on women’s health’, moderated by Elizabeth Kuiper, associate director and head of the social Europe and well-being programme at the European Policy Center, and joined by representatives from the Women’s Brain Project and the European Institute for Women’s Health (EIWH), or (b) a strategy session on decarbonising healthcare, supported by Philips.

To follow will be the simultaneous presentation on pioneering inclusive healthcare in LMICs, by Sameer Mehta, vice chairman of Mehta Hospitals and a Spire Healthcare presentation by CFO Jitesh Sodha on how to be ESG forward-facing. An afternoon fireside chat on ‘Challenging the postcode lottery for healthcare’, with Alice Chapman-Hatchett, president of the European Public Health Alliance, interviewed by Kuiper, will follow, or one can listen instead to Sukkar taking the fireside chat with Simon Batt-Nauerz, head of infrastructure and sustainability management and managing director of Charité facility management at Charité, during which they will discuss the ins and outs of delivering sustainable healthcare to prepare for the increased population of tomorrow.

Finally, a sextet of panels will close the day (depending on the desired track), before networking drinks are served: ‘Pioneering and scaling greener innovations in healthcare’, moderated by Rob Cook, clinical director of health policy and insights at Economist Impact; ‘Enhancing diversity in clinical trials’, moderated by Emi Michael, global health manager at Economist Impact; ‘Building sustainable supply chains’, moderated by Jens Leveringhaus, chief executive of P.E.G. EG; ‘Living longer – better’, moderated by Georgia Banjo, The Economist’s Britain correspondent; ‘Finding practical solutions for health inclusivity’, again moderated by Michael; and ‘Designing sustainable and resilient health systems for the future’, moderated by Graham Cookson, chief executive of Office Health Economics.

Be sure to keep an eye open for updates and don’t forget to log back on tomorrow for Day Two live coverage.