World Health Organization will open an office in Porto for health technology

Under the theme “The Future of Health Systems in a Digital Era in the European Region”, the World Health Organization (WHO) is hosting a symposium dedicated to the technological advancements in artificial intelligence and its impact in health systems. The gathering is also characterised by the announcement, on WHO’s part, of the opening of its first office in our country dedicated to Technology, Robotics, and Entrepreneurship in Health. It will be located in Porto, in the future facilities of Serviço Nacional de Saúde (National Health Service), allowing to strengthen synergies between these institutions. It will have at least 15 Portuguese and foreign researchers, and it is scheduled to open during this year.

This project is the result of a work group comprising the councillor for Economy, Employment, and Entrepreneurship, Ricardo Valente, and elements of the executive board of Serviço Nacional de Saúde, the Ministry of Health, and the World Health Organization’s office in the European region.

The 2nd Symposium of World Health Organization brings together more than 500 participants, including government representatives, academics, healthcare workers, and digital health specialists, organisations in every Member State of WHO and other interested parties.

Throughout the course of two days, themes such as unblocking the potential of digital health to combat noncommunicable diseases, digital health as a way of preparing to respond to pandemics, but also the efficiency of telehealth to revolutionise healthcare or the power of emergent technologies to improve mental health.

At the same time, they will outline actions for the Regional Digital Health Action Plan for the WHO European Region 2023-2030 and discuss how these countries and the industry can work together to tackle the existing shortcomings in digital health.

The opening session that took place today in a hotel unit in the city, counted with the presence of the mayor of City Hall, Rui Moreira, and the minister of Health, Manuel Pizarro.

During the event in Porto, the World Health Organization is going to launch a new regional report – “Leveraging and scaling up digital transformation for better health and resilience in the European Region” -, covering all 53 Member States of WHO/Europe in Europe and Central Asia. Although in many countries the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the creation and use of tools and policies for digital health in response to the lockdowns and social distancing, including telemedicine and easy to use health apps, the report highlights that there is still much work to do.

Preceding WHO’s symposium, Rui Moreira welcomed, at Paços do Concelho, the participants, and the minister of Health.