The session was led off by Harvard T.H. Chan School for Public Health Professor Dr. Rifat Atun, who joined digitally from Boston. Dr. Atun, a health systems expert who has worked with over 30 foreign governments and leading international organizations discussed how quickly the current global health crisis has led to close collaborations between healthcare companies and the systems they serve around the world. In fact, Atun argued that COVID-19 has made the discussion of public and private sector collaboration passé.
“The question is not whether public sector and private sectors should work together. The question is rather how we make this work in a way that is going to benefit everyone.”
Dr. Atun then walked through a brief analysis of international health systems’ responses to the COVID-19 crisis, noting that many responses fall under the four I’s: inefficient, ineffective, inadequate, and inflexible. The countries that have performed best, he postured, are those which have reacted with strong command chains, budget flexibility, strengthened partnerships, a reliance on science, and by embracing innovation.
Of particular focus in his presentation was the change, or lack thereof, in healthcare delivery over the past centuries. Wasted health expenditures and inefficiency of delivery highlight a lack of innovation. A foundational reason for this slow advancement is a policy misalignment, something which Dr. Atun commented that he was happy to see being addressed in the Norwegian government’s 2018-19 White Paper on the Health Industry.
Dr. Atun concluded his presentation by underlining the importance of using this crisis as an opportunity to rethink public-private collaboration, prioritizing platforms for developing innovative, integrated healthcare solutions.