QF Global Health Initiative Forms Strategic Partnership With BMJ Innovations

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH) has announced a strategic partnership with BMJ Innovations, a specialist peer-reviewed online journal from The BMJ – the world’s most eminent and most cited general medical journal that focuses on emerging digital health, medical devices, process, and system innovations.

BMJ Innovations, first published in 2015, champions high-quality original research, early-stage innovation reports, and systemic and narrative reviews. This partnership with WISH – Qatar Foundation’s global health initiative – will increase the publication of high-quality original research, provide greater global access to evidence-based innovation practice, and support the development of themed issues on topics where new innovations can make an impact.

Director of Outreach and Partnerships at WISH, Nicholas Bradshaw, said: “This is a significant partnership and we believe it will contribute to shaping how the concept of health innovation is perceived around the world. The underlying objective is central to our vision, that is supporting and promoting innovation in global healthcare. As an amplifier of the work that The BMJ does, we are very proud to form this strategic partnership.

“WISH and BMJ Innovations have a shared vision of a healthier world through better global collaboration, which will be particularly important leading on from the current pandemic. Alongside the huge human cost of COVID-19, we’ve seen many innovations – such as mRNA vaccines and AI – that will make a positive legacy on health long after we’ve brought the pandemic under control. I hope that this new partnership with WISH will help accelerate the adoption of these and other innovations to improve health outcomes worldwide,” said Ashley McKimm, Editor-in-Chief of BMJ Innovations.

The announcement of this new partnership comes as BMJ Innovations relaunches with a new editorial board and global focus on accelerating the adoption of the latest innovations that will make the biggest impact on health. The April issue of the journal, available online on April 19 via innovations.bmj.com, has a special focus on innovations that were developed or matured during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This issue includes two research papers from Qatar, one (https://bit.ly/3sQ6G6a) co-authored by Maha El Akoum, WISH Head of Content and Research Fellow, and Mahmoud El Achi, WISH Head of Innovation; and the other (https://bit.ly/3mkqlZC) is a paper that explores the use of innovation in Qatar’s approach to COVID-19, authored by key figures in the fight against the pandemic, including leaders from the Ministry of Public Health and a range of key stakeholders.

Collaborating with BMJ Innovations underlines WISH’s longstanding commitment to promoting innovation in healthcare, both locally and globally, as well as builds on the ongoing relationship with The BMJ that was first formed last year when WISH commissioned three BMJ-produced research reports that were also presented at the WISH 2020 virtual summit, the fifth edition of the biennial global conference.

This partnership also underscores WISH and The BMJ’s mutual commitment to sharing and disseminating evidence-based knowledge, and supporting healthcare leaders, experts, and policy makers in building healthier communities and improving health outcomes.

For more information on WISH, visit wish.org.qa