Health is Wealth

Continuing the great efforts of the Future Investment Initiative Institute (FII) to discuss many global issues and challenges, and to work together internationally, in order to strengthen global cooperation to reach leading solutions to address these challenges; a dialogue session virtual event was held today on Tuesday, September 21^st 2021, under the topic: “Health is wealth” on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly in New York.   Today’s event was to discuss the future of global health and how to build a global health system that is characterized by sustainability, flexibility, justice and readiness to cope with global pandemics.   The event was held today in the presence of prominent officials, leaders and scientists at the international level, under the auspices of His Excellency Mr. Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan, Governor of the Public Investment Fund, Chairman of Saudi Aramco and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Future Investment Initiative Institute.

“…How much do we deal with climate change..?  How can innovation strengthen the vaccination industry..?   How can global health indicators be assessed and followed up..?   How can we invest in health..?  What is the role of rich countries in providing vaccines to developing and poor countries..?” These were some of the questions raised today in order to effectively respond to global healthcare requirements and challenges, as well as promote the well-being and prosperity of societies.

As stated in some of today’s session dialogues, one of the biggest current challenges in societies is the “financial uncertainty”, as well as the importance of supporting financial investments, achieving long-term corporate revenues, as well as the ability to obtain adequate and high-quality data. Attention to achieving all those elements is part of the strategy required to achieve sustainability. On the other hand, some of the efforts exerted were to build digital laboratories and achieve innovations in smart systems and data, as part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, where the pandemic changed how businesses were run around the world.    There are also many opportunities and a lot of work done within health institutions in order to make their employees healthier, and be able to return to work in a healthy environment, as a priority, as well as to provide them continuous support and care.  This is due to the fact that if any institution has healthy employees, healthy citizens and healthy customers, it will eventually succeed in its mission to achieve its objectives.

It was also stated during today’s dialogues that there are millions of cases of COVID-19, around the world, and although vaccinations exist, these vaccinations have not been adequately accessed, nor fairly and equally distributed around the world, for example the number of vaccinations available in Africa is available to only 3% of the population.   To fill that gap, the COVAX Facility has been established to help meet the demands of sustainable development, through the ability to deliver vaccinations around the world, particularly in African countries.  And, for this program to succeed, there must be international solidarity to achieve equality and apply justice policies, as well as share the vaccination manufacturing technology in Africa in order to ensure a sufficient number of vaccinations, in addition to the promotion of healthy, economic and commercial growth, infrastructure, structural transformation, sustainable job creation, as well as financial support for the African Pandemic Fund.

“One vaccine and infinite capabilities” was one of the themes of today’s session, where “lessons learned” were stated, after facing the pandemic, by some speakers in the global medical field.  There were two basic lessons, the first of which was “the need for public-private cooperation” in order to make much progress at various levels, among them are: legislators, researchers and decision makers. The second lesson is that “it is not only important to provide technology”, but also to provide support and investments in the fields of science and biosciences, to learn beyond diseases and share all this data; to benefit all.   The existence of human values, partnership and rewarding companies that contribute to the vaccine industry, are also among the most important lessons learned.

Moreover, an important topic of discussion today was the degradation of the ecosystem, the spread of harmful gases, environmental disasters and fires, as well as working under unhealthy environments. The recommendations were that we should stop using fertilizers that kill our soil, and we need to protect forests, farms, livestock and plants; in addition to the need to recycle, and educate our children on how to communicate closely with nature, for a better world.  And that is because our health and well-being depend on implementing all these aspects.

During the session today with His Excellency Mr. Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan, it was stated that the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has one of the largest sovereign funds in the world, and achieving sustainability is a key goal for Saudi Arabia, because 70% of the kingdom’s population is under the age of 35, hence the Kingdom is thinking about future generations, because “health is wealth”.  It was also stated during the dialogue that sustainability is improving gradually, and that some companies have started working to install solar panels and reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and a lot of efforts have been made in this direction, due to the fact that the Kingdom cannot separate health from sustainability. The work to achieve sustainable economic development is by promoting the use of renewable energy and solar energy, which costs the Kingdom a cent per kilowatt versus 15 cents with conventional energy.  In addition, the kingdom-led “Green Initiative” aims to plant more than 50 billion trees in the Middle East, including 10 billion trees in Saudi Arabia.  His Excellency Mr. Yasir bin Othman Al-Rumayyan also stated that the future smart city “NEOM” will have many tourist facilities, and that the Kingdom will start the construction phase within the coming months, as part of its strategy in achieving a healthy high-quality of life.

Another discussion during the session today, was the strategy of health and investments in the face of epidemics, where the lack of data and the fragility of the health environment in some countries and some health institutions, were among the main causes for the spread of epidemics.   It was also emphasized that data analysis, presence of tools and raw materials for the vaccine industry, availability of supply chains and resources, science participation and the combined solidarity of the international community were among the most important elements of the success of the health strategy in the face of epidemics.

The importance of digital health care and telemedicine techniques, was also addressed in order to succeed in reaching patients and guarantee the continuity of telemedicine treatment and follow-ups.

Since its inception in 2017, the Future Investment Initiative Institute has proven to be a leading platform for promoting global communication between investors, entrepreneurs, innovators, scientists, researchers and governments, as well as economic sector leaders.  One of the main objectives of today’s meeting, through its rich dialogues, was to continue to explore the opportunities, challenges, trends and solutions that shape the future of global health.  And it was surely a successful session.

Fadwa Saad AlBawardi

Columnist, and Expert in Technology & Strategic Planning