Wish to participate as a panellist at the “Employee Health and Wellbeing Conference”

The World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), a global initiative of Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), will participate as a panellist at the “Employee Health and Wellbeing Conference,” which will be held in Doha from October 11 to 13, 2015. The conference will be held under the patronage of H.E Abdulla Bin Khalid Al Qahtani, Minister of Public Health, and is officially supported by the Supreme Council of Health.

The conference will explore the assertion that fluctuating business climates, globalisation and difficult work environments are posing wider occupational health challenges to employers. With the aim of reducing the economic burdens of workplace injury and illness, the conference is designed to find the best ways of generating high quality health care for the workforce.

As part of its commitment to healthcare by capturing and disseminating the best evidence-based ideas and practices this area is of particular importance to WISH as it continues to work towards QF’s vision of cementing Qatar’s pioneering role as an emerging centre for healthcare and innovation.

WISH CEO, Egbert Schillings, will speak at a session entitled Wellness Works and Prevention Pays: Business Perspective, on the first day of the conference at 9 am. Mr Schillings will discuss the return on investment that wellness and prevention programmes provide once a business invests in a health strategy.

Mr Schillings said: “A business’s most important asset is its employees. And in a world with rising incidence of lifestyle related diseases, the health of a business depends increasingly on the health of its employees. At the same time 75 percent of all health care costs arise from these largely preventable conditions which the providers in the health care system alone cannot fix. Employers therefore have an important role to play in helping their staff reduce health risk factors including weight, blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol. This conference is extremely timely and throws into stark relief both the challenges and the opportunities in employee health.”

Other topics that will be addressed at the event include Corporate Health as a Key Determinant for Sustainable Development, Countering Air Industry Medical Challenges, Developing Healthy & Resilient Workforces and Pioneering Remote Healthcare. Featuring 30 plus speakers and a choice of over 20 topics, the conference promises to offer a rich selection of industry-leading education and debate.

Embedding the theme of “Global Action Plan – Promote Worker Health & Let the Business Thrive”, the conference will offer invaluable advice and best practice guidance through peer-led interactive sessions, thought provoking debates, real-life case studies, and practical activity-based workshops giving each participant a learning experience unique to their professional needs. 

WISH’s participation in the conference hopes to translate what is discussed and learned into being implemented as part of local healthcare policy initiatives.