AmCham at Arendalsuka 2025: Ensuring Healthcare Resilience in Uncertain Times
At this year’s Arendalsuka, AmCham hosted a fully subscribed meeting at Clarion Hotel Tyholmen to explore how to best ensure healthcare resilience in uncertain times. The COVID-19 pandemic pushed our health systems to their limits; there is an ongoing war in Europe; climate change is driving more frequent extreme weather; and rapid technological advances, from cyberattacks to AI, are creating new vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, the liberal world order that underpins free trade and international cooperation is under unprecedented strain.
Norway boasts one of the world’s most robust welfare and healthcare systems, reassuring patients uninterrupted access to life-saving medicines and supplies. Yet, our system deeply depends on complex global supply chains, and on the continued goodwill of our allies. This year’s discussion underscored the need for formalized cross-sector partnerships, pre-established trust and closer cooperation with our regional neighbors to ensure resilience when the next disruption hits.
Photos: Trond-Atle Bokerød
Lessons Learned
Our first panel brought together leaders from industry, patient organizations and public directorates to discuss the hard‐earned lessons of the pandemic and outline concrete steps for future crises. Trygve Ottersen, Director General at NOMA, and Cathrine M. Lofthus, Director General at the Norwegian Directorate of Health, both emphasized that preparedness has moved from an afterthought to an imperative. Over the past years, government and political decision-makers have updated roadmaps, white papers, and response plans to address vulnerabilities exposed by COVID-19. They also stressed the urgent need for Norway to join the European Health Union and to strengthen ties with Nordic and broader international allies, recognizing that as a small market, Norway cannot secure supply chains and expertise on its own. Magne Wang Fredriksen, CEO of LHL, underscored the critical role of the civilian sector: volunteer networks and patient organizations provide indispensable support that protects the country’s most vulnerable when formal systems are stretched.
Rebuilding the public-private trust forged during crisis was a recurring theme. “During the pandemic, we didn’t have time not to trust each other,” reflected Kirsti Nyhus, Market Access Director Scandinavia and Country Lead Norway at AbbVie. She argued that public, private, and civilian actors must normalize the rapid, cooperative mind-set that emergency conditions enforced. Without that foundational trust, any preparedness plan risks stalling when crisis occurs.
"During the pandemic, we didn’t have time not to trust each other."
Anne-Lie Öberg, Head of Government Affairs Nordics at Medtronic, pushed the conversation from crisis reaction to crisis prevention. She urged pre-emptive investment in innovative treatments and technologies, not as a luxury, but as a resource-optimization strategy. By formalizing channels for knowledge sharing and best-practice exchange, hospitals, municipalities and private providers can align their capabilities well before a crisis emerges.
Overall, panelists called for deeper collaboration within and across sectors, anchored by partnerships and measurable benchmarks. They agreed that understanding one another’s strengths and roles is not optional. Clear lines of communication and shared objectives should be agreed upon, so that when the next disruption arrives, all parties can mobilize swiftly and cohesively. But exactly how and to what degree these relationships should be codified is up for debate.
Leveraging expertise
During our second panel, Mahmoud Farahmand (H) opened by pinpointing a paradox: Norway boasts solid hospitals and advanced equipment yet faces a shortage of healthcare professionals. He argued that tapping the private sector’s expertise and volunteer organizations in everyday planning (not just emergencies) might bolster surge capacity, optimize division of labor, and ensure patients across Norway get timely care. Truls Vasvik (Ap) agreed that while “we’re more prepared than last time,” the core challenge remains staffing, calling for smarter resource use.
The conversation then shifted to whether Norway needs a life-science strategy. Farahmand insisted that any roadmap must come with dedicated funding, clear milestones and public accountability, or it’s just paper. “If there’s going to be a strategy,” he said, “I expect you in the audience to nag us and force us to follow through.” Lars Løvold (FpU) argued that Norway should leverage its existing medical technology strengths, fast-track alliances with Nordic and EU peers, and use procurement preferences to attract company investments. Vasvik downplayed labeling, stating that he is “more into action than strategy,” but echoed the call for binding follow-through on initiatives already in place.
When asked to choose a single fix to improve healthcare preparedness, each panelist highlighted different initiatives. Vasvik would work to secure Norway in the European Health Union to ensure shared vaccine and medicine access. Farahmand, agreeing with Vasvik, also pressed for a fully resourced, binding long-term plan. Løvold zeroed in on scaling up MedTech innovation, making Norway not just a beneficiary of global breakthroughs but a leading developer, user, and exporter of lifesaving technologies.
