The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development, presented its evidence-based research to nearly 200 health policy experts at a global forum hosted by Health Affairs in Washington DC recently.

Health Affairs is one of the world’s leading peer-reviewed journals in the field of health policy research and serves as a high-level, non-partisan platform to encourage analysis and discussion to improve health and healthcare, and to address issues including cost, quality and access.
The forum, entitled ‘Global Health: Patient Safety, Cancer Care, Universal Health Coverage and Innovation,’ explored major issues facing the global health community and coincided with the journal’s publication and distribution of a compendium of articles that originated from the WISH Summit in 2015.
The papers, which have also been published in Health Affairs over the past year, addressed four major issues confronting the global health community: ‘How To Reduce The Burden Of Non-Communicable Diseases,’ ‘How To Improve Access To Vaccines In Low And Middle-Income Countries,’ ‘How To Achieve Universal Health Coverage’ and ‘How To Accelerate The Diffusion Of Healthcare Innovation.’
“We’re excited that the work we’re presenting here is supported through a multi-year relationship with Qatar Foundation and its World Innovation Summit for Health," Health Affairs editor-in-chief Alan Weil said at the event.
"We also have support from Hamad Medical Corporation, Sidra Medical and Research Centre and Imperial College London. This relationship has been very productive in terms of content and the ability to disseminate important information to a US and global audience.”
Prof the Lord Darzi of Denham, executive chair of WISH, said: “The main aspiration of WISH is the dissemination of research output and the drive is to translate some of these ideas into practical applications on the front line. It’s always wonderful to see WISH’s outputs reach a truly global audience through publication in one of the best and highest impact journals in policy.”
Egbert Schillings, CEO of WISH, who moderated a panel discussion on cancer care, said: "Our mission is to influence health policy at the highest levels, using the best available evidence. When we are invited to do just that in Washington DC by the premier academic journal in this space, then we know we are truly living our purpose as a programme. The partners who joined us at the National Press Club represent some of the greatest leaders and thinkers in the world of health policy. All of them are as committed as we are to creating a healthier world through global collaboration, and we look forward to writing the next chapter in Doha this November."
WISH leadership and WISH research forum chairs also played key roles in the briefing, moderating discussions and speaking about their respective areas of healthcare expertise.