Using Technology to Advance Global Health: Proceedings of a Workshop (2018)
Chapter: 7 Final Thoughts
7
Final Thoughts
To conclude the workshop, Elaine Gibbons presented the key messages from the day. Gibbons said she heard clearly that government has to be the driver of public–private partnerships and that trust is critically important for the process of building guidelines and structure. She said she was struck by the optimism expressed that the current generation of innovators will be able to overcome many of the challenges identified during the workshop. Another important point for her was the importance of focusing on outcomes rather than on selling particular products, which she thought should be the subject of further discussion. Additional discussion is also needed, she said, on who pays for what and on the willingness and ability to pay for innovations.
Gibbons said the importance of data and building a data culture was clearly stated at the workshop, as were the promising opportunities for using social media to better involve citizens in health care and to provide peer-to-peer support, particularly for nurses and community health workers who often work in difficult and isolated conditions. Her final comment was on the promising trends in innovation and the importance of creating ecosystems of innovators that can scale solutions rather than reinventing them in every community or country.
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