PharmAccess mobilizes public and private resources for the benefit of doctors and patients through clinical standards and quality improvements, loans for healthcare providers, health insurance, mHealth innovations and operational research.
The two-day event, which took place in The Hague on 28 and 29 of November, was opened by special guest Princess Laurentien of the Netherlands and brought together stakeholders from different industries and backgrounds, who are all committed to addressing key healthcare challenges.
The conference which focused on three main areas; accessibility to healthcare, effectiveness of healthcare and healthcare affordability most importantly brought together experts working in various healthcare fields to learn from each other.
Professor Tobias Rinke de Wit, Dept. Global Health AMC, Director Research PharmAccess Group and Joep Lange Institute, Dr. Remko van Leeuwen, Director of Acquisition at AIGHD and Cees Hesp, Director mHealth Research Labs, PharmAccess spoke to the future of sustainable healthcare whilst Alexander Kohnstamm, Director of External Affairs for PharmAccess and Joep Lange Institute, who sits on the board of the World Healthcare Forum moderated a number of sessions over the two days.
On the first day of the conference Tobias and Remko joined Professor L. Good from the Royal Veterinary College in an insightful discussion chaired by Professor R.M. Anderson, from the London School of Public Health on Neglected Tropical Diseases. Each presented an alternative perspective on the topic with Remko highlighting the need for new business models to allow for further vaccine development and investment in neglected tropical diseases. Tobias used the case study of Samburu County in Kenya to illustrate how the use of connected diagnostics can help to identify patients, facilitate diagnosis and target financial healthcare exchange to those who are in need.
An engaging lunch time session moderated by Alexander and Steven Lougard, CEO of Performation, entitled ‘Everything you always wanted to ask about Healthcare in Africa, but were afraid to ask’ provided the opportunity for conference attendees to ask three African Hospital Managers direct questions about the challenges and opportunities of the healthcare system. The first question ‘how can we avoid imposing our Western Healthcare systems on Africa?’ was the perfect opening for an interesting debate on the challenges of implementing local solutions whilst balancing donor and governmental expectations.
In the final day of the conference Cees Hesp presented PharmAccess’s innovative mHealth solution M-TIBA in a session showcasing innovation in healthcare.
