Hosted jointly by WEF, the London School of Economics, AstraZeneca, Philips and KPMG, the session provided a platform to discuss how all participants in health systems globally, whether industry, government, health provider or patient, have a role to play in transforming healthcare, to make it sustainable, accessible, and responsive to the unmet needs of the future.
Opened and moderated by Dr. Anna van Poucke, Global Head of Healthcare, KPMG International, the event included an overview of ongoing crises in the world and their impact on health systems from Prof. José Manuel Barroso, Chair of the Board of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance; former President of the European Commission and Prime Minister of Portugal.
“For too long, health systems have been underinvested and viewed narrowly as a driver of costs to be contained. The pandemic exposed underlying gaps and showed us that this is unsustainable. We need to treat healthcare as a strategic asset, with an investment mindset to build more sustainable and resilient health systems,” said José Manuel Barroso.
This was followed by a panel discussion from PHSSR leaders on the ways public-private partnerships can help health systems withstand future crises. Speakers on the panel included Frans van Houten, CEO, Philips; Leif Johansson, Chair, AstraZeneca; Prof. Syaru Shirley Lin, Chair of the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation (CAPRI) and Emanuele Capobianco, Chief Strategy and Impact Officer, WHO Foundation.
“The pandemic has taught us that public-private collaboration is critical to making health systems more resilient and sustainable at the local, national and global levels. Collaboration across academic, public and private sectors can catalyse innovative ecosystems that will drive solutions to health challenges,” said Leif Johansson, Chair, AstraZeneca.
“Pandemic preparedness and resilience is ongoing obligation that requires a plan, and Public-Private Partnerships, where companies play an important role and governments allocate the requisite resources,” said Frans van Houten, CEO Philips. “We need to draw up a set of game rules on how we collaborate moving forward. Tough lessons were learned from the pandemic but we can be cautiously optimistic. We must come together and strengthen governance that is inspiring to tackle the bureaucracy in healthcare and prevent further fragmentation.”
