IGHI Forums
Global Health Forums at the Institute of Global Health Innovation
Health care is on an unsustainable course. Increasing costs and nearly insatiable demand combine to make many health systems insolvent in long run. This is already apparent in many developed countries, whilst emerging economies risk falling into the same trap.
Ever-increasing health expenditure threatens not only the solvency of health systems but also the fiscal sustainability of nations. Citizens’ needs and expectations will continue to grow, as too will the costs of care on current trends—all at a time of widespread fiscal retrenchment. The IMF projects that, unless arrested, spending increases over the next forty years will amount to three times the impact of the recent financial crisis on the public debt of advanced economies.
And yet health care also offers exciting opportunities—precisely because a new way of doing things must be found. Throwing more money at the problem is not an option. Health needs are also set to change radically in the coming years with ageing populations and the explosion of chronic conditions such as cardiovascular disease. Already a sector worth many trillions annually, health care will be amongst the most commercially exciting markets of the future.
To unlock this opportunity—and to develop innovations that will help us meet the health challenges of the future—governments, industry and the independent sector must collaborate in new and better ways. To facilitate this collaboration, we are establishing a programme of Global Health Forums. These will debate the big issues in health care as well as challenges specific to particular regions or industries.
Examples of topics Forums might consider
- How should health care be regulated?
- How will the delivery of healthcare need to change in response to ageing societies?
- How can obesity be tackled in Middle Eastern societies?
- How can governments and industries foster innovation that reduces cost?
- What new forms of state-industry partnerships could be developed to address modern health needs?
Membership of these Forums will be cross-sectoral, combining public sector leaders (politicians and officials), private and third sector executives, and leading thinkers. This approach explicitly recognises that, increasingly, health problems cannot be solved by government alone. It also recognises the value of practical experience and leadership.
“Health problems cannot be solved by government alone.”
These Forums will be more than mere talking-shops. Supported by analytical teams from the Institute of Global Health Innovation, they will be expected to produce recommendations and innovations that, once published, have high profile and real impact.
We would like to invite you to get involved in this programme. For partners from government, industry and the independent sector this will entail a commitment to spend time with other senior figures engaged in collective problem-solving and thought-leadership. In return partners will see a number of important benefits, including:
- A chance to shape policy responses to the key challenges in the health and life sciences sector working alongside other senior executives from government and industry.
- Partner status at our annual Health Policy Summit attended by ministers from around the world. In time, we want to make this meeting the ‘Davos of health care’, specifically for a select group of senior decision-makers and the most innovative thinkers in the field.
- A premier networking opportunity for some of the most senior decision-makers in the health and life sciences sectors.
"We want to make this meeting the Davos of health care.”
If you are a student or member of faculty from Imperial interested in the programme, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. We will shortly be recruiting experts, analysts and researchers who are able to support Forums develop the innovative thinking the problems of health care so clearly demand.
Please contact ighi@imperial.ac.uk for more information about our Global Health Forums.
