At this summit, more than 100 expert speakers debated on the improvement of global health and the development of scientific solutions to health challenges. In more than 20 separate sessions these important topics were discussed: challenges and strategies of vaccine development and policies, metabolic syndrome and chronic diseases, new frontiers in healthcare promotion, new technologies, and personalized healthcare systems.
Among many other interesting sessions, our team participated in Health Systems and Health Coverage in Developing Countries. To achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC), health systems must be efficient in terms of population, services, and financial coverage. While great emphasis has been put on strategies to implement the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development essential to achieving UHC. It is critical to have the right tools to improve health and well-being in the years ahead. Many low- and middle-income countries are still struggling to make progress toward UHC due to a lack of strategic plans to achieve this goal. The situation is exacerbated by low funding, poor healthcare systems, and a lack of collaboration between the private and government sectors, to name just a few of the main obstacles.
Our Principal Investigator Robert Kalyesubula, as the President of the Ugandan Kidney Foundation, led joint discussions with a panel of experts on how to achieve health for all while embracing technology and innovations. Building sustainable, community-based interventions and infrastructures that ensure long-term access to care, diagnostic, and treatment in remote areas is one of the key aspects of the Balamu project. From his wide-ranged internationally gained experience in global health, he shared his expertise on non-communicable disease management and community-health-worker-based models of care in Uganda.
“Community health workers are essential for achieving health in hard-to-reach areas of Uganda. Community-based interventions have been proven to be successful in educating patients and ensuring access to healthcare in remote areas.” (Robert Kalyesubula)
In addition, the expert round discussed several topics: ensuring essential diagnostics in healthcare systems (Daniel Bausch, Senior Director of Emerging Threats and Global Health Security), the theoretical framework for sustainable and ethical universal health coverage (Valerie Luyckx, Brigham Hospital, Harvard Medical School), and the role of non-governmental organizations for sustainable universal healthcare (Rossella Miccio as the President of Emergency). After this conference, the team takes home valuable insights for improving and developing our work in the Balamu project.