Maintaining healthcare systems that are both sustainable and equitable can be a tricky balancing act.
However, fresh approaches to healthcare delivery can help strengthen the response to some daunting challenges, from widening disparities in access to the rising prevalence of chronic diseases, attendees heard at the Asia Summit on Global Health (ASGH), which was recently held in Hong Kong.
The use of AI diagnostic tools in healthcare centres in poorer parts of China, for example, is a game-changer for patients who used to travel five to six hours to see a specialist, observed Martin Taylor, the World Health Organization (WHO) Representative to China.
While patients may still need to travel for treatment, sometimes the treatment can come to them.
“The use of these technologies enables us to think quite differently about healthcare systems,” Mr Taylor explained. “We don’t need to think about the old-fashioned buildings and how they were or were not connected.”
Tech advances can help in other ways too.
Telemedicine and digital platforms can also bolster patient trust – a core component of better healthcare – by putting them in touch with medical professionals more often.
Digital connectivity also makes it easier to manage healthcare budgets, as demand for services continues to grow.
“What I’m seeing in some of the innovations in China is very exciting in terms of how the world can benefit from that,” Mr Taylor enthused.
The WHO official was speaking alongside other leading figures from government, industry, academia and international organisations in a panel discussion moderated by Prof Lap-Chee Tsui, Chairman of the University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research, as part of a plenary session on equitable and sustainable health systems.
Authorities in France are also re-evaluating healthcare strategies and structures, as the costs of insurance, medication and tech requirements continue to increase.
More autonomy for public and private organisations at the local level can accelerate change and foster new ideas, suggested Frédéric Rimattei, Special Envoy for International Affairs of the President for the French University Hospitals National Association, which represents around 40% of the country’s public healthcare services.
“We have to encourage locally driven initiatives, instead of sometimes overly centralised top-down polices,” urged Mr Rimattei, who is also General Manager at Nimes University Hospital.
France is investing in healthcare training, bankrolling a new WHO Academy, which was inaugurated late last year in Lyon, the country’s third-largest city. This pioneering project provides on-site and online courses to address a growing global shortage in healthcare workers.
The goal is to train 3 million people, including nurses, clinicians and midwives, over the next four years.
“Reforming and extending training – both in quality and quantity of healthcare professionals – is key to all the issues,” Mr Rimattei said.
Changes bring challenges
Prof Nancy Ip, President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, emphasised that universities have a pivotal role to play by preparing students for a rapidly evolving industry.
Additionally, healthcare workers in Hong Kong will likely need further training to support plans to introduce more community-based services that can meet the needs of the city’s ageing population.
“Healthcare professionals need to adopt new technologies to provide this kind of primary healthcare on a community basis,” Prof Ip explained. “Education is extremely important. This is where universities can contribute.”
As neutral platforms, universities can also help transform health outcomes through different alliances that can turn research breakthroughs into practical solutions.
“To amplify our impact, we must strengthen the partnerships with industry and policymakers,” Prof Ip stressed.
Member states in APEC – a free-trade group spanning both sides of the Pacific – are also exploring new collaboration models and sharing mechanisms that can create more responsive and resilient healthcare systems.
A strategy document called North Star, which sets out the group’s health priorities for the current decade, offers a clear guide on how APEC’s 21 members can work together, while providing a space where new and helpful ideas can grow, explained Dr Victor Yosef Melt Campos, 2024-2025 Chair of the APEC Health Working Group.
A key priority is helping more economies adapt best practices to suit local realities.
“Technology alone will not resolve disparities,” stated Dr Campos, who is also General Director of International Cooperation for Peru’s Ministry Of Health.
“It must be integrated into systems that are designed around our people’s needs.”
Cooperation opens doors
Close ties between companies, governments and universities can help transform affordability and accessibility for expensive new medicines by bringing down costs and ramping up production, pointed out Dr Wu Xiaobin, Vice President of the China Pharmaceutical Innovation and Research Development Association.
Hong Kong is also well positioned as a regional hub to help speed up regulatory approvals for new remedies by liaising with different authorities, proposed Dr Wu, who is also Global President and COO of BeOne Medicines, formerly known as BeiGene, which specialises in cancer treatments.
“If we can harmonise the regulatory [environment] in the Asia region, that will be a big achievement to further bring innovative medicines to the vast majority of the population.”
Prof Chung-mau Lo, Secretary for Health for the Hong Kong SAR Government, outlined plans to strengthen Hong Kong’s position as an international hub during special remarks delivered before the panel discussion at the plenary session.
“As the world gets more fragmented from unilateralisation, Hong Kong’s unique advantages make us an important player in upholding multilateralisation,” Prof Lo observed.
“To safeguard global health, our role as a neutral hub for global health diplomacy has never been more crucial.”
Feng Haicang, Level I Bureau Rank Official from the Department of Consumer Goods Industry of China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, also provided special remarks during the plenary session, pledging to deepen collaboration in the face of new challenges posed by current trends.
“We need to build a resource exchange hub and an ecosystem for innovation to build an industry chain to ensure a stable supply and to safeguard health equity and universal access to health,” Mr Feng said.
