How Swedish Scale-Ups fit into the Future of Digital Health

Sweden Germany Innovation Partnership: eHealth

One Day in Berlin

Objective

Digital health start-ups and businesses will play a crucial role in transforming health care to better take advantage of the technical progress by developing new innovative products and digital health solutions. Given the challenging regulatory framework of the health care sector but also the high potential, start-ups and businesses in digital health will profit substantially from exchanges, networking and cooperation between each other and with relevant stakeholders. This visit is part of ongoing discussions on discuss how Germany and Sweden can make sure to share our innovative businesses across borders and help them connect to a larger market both within the home countries and abroad.

Swedish Scale-Ups

• Cambio Healthcare Systems
• Coala Life
• KRY / LIVI
• Zenicor Medical Systems

Agenda

Morning - Presentations by German government officials for the Swedish Digital Health Companies

• Overview about the Digital Hub Initiative focusing the Digital Health Hubs by Germany Trade and Invest
• Presentation on the Fast Track for Digital Applications by the Ministry of Health
• Presentation on the Federal Funding Advisory Service at the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy

Networking Lunch at the 

Swedish-German Business Day

Afternoon - Breakout session on eHealth and the German-Swedish Innovation Partnership

• What are the main challenges in the German market
• What are the strengths which Swedish companies could learn from
• How will the new regulatory changes regarding eHealth change the health care landscape
• Which collaborations would be most beneficial in order to ensure German and Swedish innovations can be tested within the existing system
• Next steps: exchange of innovative companies during a Digital Health Camp in Q2 2020

Informal dinner with representatives from 

Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Main Take-Away

The upcoming Digital Care Act (Digitale Versorgung Gesetz – DVG) is a new administrative pathway to accelerate digitalisation and initiate "fast track" to reimbursement. It is only the first of many steps that Germany will take in order to harness new digital opportunities in order to provide citizens with the best health care (and preventive measures) while ensuring data and patient protection. There is scope for Swedish digital companies to be part of this process as the policy landscape evolves.

Thank you!

We could not have arranged this without the support of the team at GTAI and Business Sweden in Berlin! Look to this space for upcoming events (most likely April and/or May 2020) or get in touch if you would like more information.

Senaste nytt inom "Sweden-India Year of Health" - vad har hänt och vad är på gång!

Samarbetet med Indien fördjupas och Sweden-India Year of Health löper på. En mängd delegationer passerar Sverige och flera har även besökt Indien på senare tid.

En stor Tech Delegation var här i samband med Stockholm Tech Week där även Swecare modererade en panel om IoT, AI, och Robotik i hälsosektorn. Många nya kontakter knöts mellan våra start-ups (watch this space!).

Socialdepartementet och Swecare var i Indien för någon vecka sedan och tog då tillfället i akt och träffade våra kollegor på hälsoministeriet. De är fortsatt entusiastiska till samarbetet och vårt jubileumsår. 

Besöket från Jodhpur beskrevs i positiva ordalag och chefen för avdelningen som ansvarar för universitetssjukhusen sa att ministeriet anser att AIIMS Jodhpur är det bästa och mest välfungerande av de nya AIIMS utanför Delhi. Vi vill gärna se en större samverkan mellan svenska myndigheter och företag eftersom det här är en fantastik möjlighet att visa på våra styrkor inom hälsosektorn.

Vi fick träffade även några stora (svenska) och små (indiska) bolag, tjänstemän på lokala hälsoministerier i Maharashtra och Karnataka, och Indiska key opinion leaders inom vården. Vi pratade om innovationshub (Delhi) och test beds (Bengaluru) men vi behöver utveckla idéerna i samband med våra lokala partners, Business Sweden, och Svenska Ambassaden i New Delhi.

I samband med besöket tog vi upp frågan om nästa Joint Working Group under samförståndsavtalet och firandet av jubileumsåret och besök av den indiske hälsoministern som vi föreslagit skulle kunna sammanfalla i Stockholm under senhösten. Två datumförslag i november har lämnats till ministern då vår minister Lena Hallengren skulle kunna ta emot i Stockholm.

Skulle inte detta ministerbesök bli av är förhoppningen att vi kan förlägga firandet till Indien istället i samband med ett högnivåbesök i Delhi första veckan i december. Även i detta fall borde ett seminarium arrangeras men då förstås i nära samarbete med det indiska departementet.

Håll ögonen öppna, fortsättning följer!


Läs mer om vårt senaste besök i Indisk media:

• The New Strike - September 19, 2019
• HealthcareRadius India - September 18, 2019
• The Prevalent India - September

How to Make the Strategic Innovation Partnerships Work for You

Sweden has signed innovationspartnerskap with three countries - Germany, France, and India - since 2017. As described on their website, the purpose of the partnership is

"to work together and, through innovation, address the challenges of the transition to[wards] a more sustainable welfare society, create new jobs and maintain social cohesion [sic]."

While the dialogue between governments has been ongoing and some research collaborations among institutions have taken place, there has been little engagement with the third pillar in triple helix: the private sector. Aside from a few projects within clean energy financed by the state, few incentives have been created to encourage companies to leverage the partnership. This, however, does not mean that there are no exciting exchanges taking place.

Below are highlights from visits made by all three countries in the month of June.

Germany

Minister Barbara Klepsch, State Minister of Social Affairs and Consumer Protection of the Free State of Saxony, led a 30-person strong delegation under the theme: Digitization in Health Care.

Photo from https://www.ltu.se/

“This trip is [...] particularly important to me, and I very much value thisopportunity of being able to strengthen the relations between Saxony and Sweden and to engender new collaborations."

The delegation - organised by Tysk-Svenska Handelskammaren and consisting of state, agency, insurance, and company representatives -  visited a number of Swedish companies along with Socialdepartementet, eHälsomyndigheten, the Royal Palace, and universities in Stockholm and Luleå. Swecare had the privilege of welcoming the delegation on its first day and presenting an overview of the Swedish health care system - our strengths, challenges, and vision.

One delegate felt both slightly disappointed and genuinely inspired that Sweden was not as digitised as he had feared, making collaborations on equal terms more likely.

France

Little did we know that when we invited CEO Pascal Roché of Ramsay Générale de Santé, current owners of Capio, for a half-day seminar in Stockholm, it would lead to one of the most interactive events of the year, with both presenters and audience engaging with complete frankness and good humour. Swecare and Business Sweden France hosted the event as a continuation of the conversation from the  conference in Paris on "Innovation in health: A French-Swedish dialogue” with more activities planned for the Fall.

Key take-aways:

• From Pascal: Ramsay Générale de Santé reduces queues and costs by operating more efficiently due to successfully implementing small innovations across all their units. He advises President Macron as to how this can be done within France's public hospitals as well.
• From Jan Gustavsson, Vice President Worldwide Sales for ScandiDos: If you are going to do business in France, keep a significant buffer for administrative costs which should be outsourced.

Macron mentioned health care twice during his five-minutes at the joint press conference held with Löfven early June. This is clearly a prioritised sector for France.

India

On the occasion of the India-Sweden Year of Health, the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs welcomed a high-level delegation from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Jodhpur led by its Director, Professor Sanjeev Misra. As part of this visit, Swecare organised an intimate round table for its members.

The aim of our close collaboration with AIIMS Jodhpur is to lay the foundation for scaling Swedish solutions and products to other AIIMS, with the exception of New Delhi, across India: 8 already functioning, 9 in the process of being built, 4 more planned. This also gives us the opportunity to operationalise the Innovation Partnership.

The 5-person delegation met with government agencies and institutions in Stockholm and Uppsala. They also had the opportunity to test VR tools and visit Swedish companies already engaged in projects in Jodhpur.

Next Steps

We are already planning the next activities in all three countries so please email us at Swecare if you want to be involved!

#ICYMI: Be sure not to miss out next time

Incredible India. Thirteen Swedish health care representative traveled to India last week - in addition to the 17-person tech delegation arranged by SIBC to Bangalore, so Swedish presence was particularly high on the sub-continent - in order to begin preparations for increased collaborations during our Jubilee year 2019. With three separate tracks focused on regional collaborations, partnerships in order to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, and private sector opportunities, the agenda for these Mini Delegations was incredibly packed.

The delegation trip itself would not have come about without the close collaboration between Swecare Foundation, Socialdepartementet, and the Embassy of Sweden in New Delhi as well as InnovatioCuris. The visibility and credibility of the delegation increase significantly when we work towards a common goal while planning these visits.

Program Overview - Track 1

The Swecare trip started with InnoHealth2018, organized by our Central Baltic Health Access partners InnovatioCuris and led by Target Market Coach, Sachin Gaur. The Swedish Ambassador to India, the inimitable Klas Molin, opened the two-day conference in Gurugram with a passionate plea to delegates to innovate together, across borders, towards a common goal. The conference's strength in fact lies attracting those who are willing to put in the time, resources, and skills to do exactly that and the B2B sessions are unparalleled in their focus on action points. Special attention was given to affordable and simple solutions, especially with regards to management of chronic disease.


The following week included study visits to Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) New Delhi, and Max Hospital Saket where the delegation had the honor of touring radiology, oncology, and infection control units at the leading hospitals in the country. The warm welcome we received touched the delegation and we hope to return the favor when these counterparts visit Sweden.


We also had very high-level access to two leading diagnostic brands in Delhi.
Dr Lal's National Reference Laboratory has arguably the most extensive network across India and we got to visit their state-of-the-art flagship center in Rohini. Dr Lal himself received our small delegation. This was followed up by a visit to the more specialized Mahajan Imaging where we had an intimate dialogue about premium Indian market, AI, and quality assurance.

After constructive discussions with a large team at the Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI) cutting across a vast range of subjects from nursing to eHealth, we ended the day with a roundtable among Swedish life science companies in India, hosted by the Swedish Chamber and Business Sweden, and a reception at the Ambassador's Residence. 

Program Overview - Track 2

Socialdepartments trip started with WHO's 2nd World Conference on Access to Medical Products - Achieving the SDGs 2030, where we met the leadership at the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare during the inauguration. Niclas Jacobson, Socialdepartementet, spoke on Sweden's commitment to these issues and Pavan Aslapuram, EMPE Diagnostics, presented the case for Swedish colloborative structures.

The first day ended with a Team Sweden dinner hosted by our Ministry, where we got a chance to realign our objectives for the week and the year ahead.

Representatives from Socialdepartementet, Embassy of Sweden - Economic Affairs, Swecare, eHälsomyndigheten, Business Sweden, and Forte traveled to Jodhpur on the second day, along with Joint Secretary Sunil Sharma, to conduct a site visit to the AIIMS Jodhpur. The group were treated to dinner by the Indian Ministry at the foot of the Jodhpur Fort. A visit was also made to two Health and Wellness Centers which Sweden plans to 'adopt' in order to test, and eventually showcase, Swedish solutions in the Indian context. We were very happy to see Elekta, Sectra, and Hemocue products already in use in Jodhpur.

The delegation returned to Delhi to join the others at the Roundtable and Reception at the Embassy. And with this renewed energy and commitment, we entered into what was to be one of the most productive Joint Working Group meeting in this MoU's history on the morning of the last day.

Program Overview - Track 3

Representatives from Läkemedelverket and Folkhälsomyndigheten stayed back in Delhi in order to present at the WHO conference and meet with CDSCO and Safdarjung Hospital respectively. They rejoined the larger group for the Roundtable, Reception, and JWG meeting. The entire trip was rounded off by a Team Sweden meeting at the Embassy in order to debrief and delegate immediate action points.

Most common issues raised

• Nurse Training
• Doctor Exchange
• Clinical Decision Support (AI)
• Early Screening
• Elderly Care
• AMR / Environmental Impact

Participants

Much of the reason for the success of this delegation trip rests with the participants - a dedicated set of smart, funny, and flexible individuals. Thank you for coming!

• Karolinska University Hospital
• Getinge
• Aleris
• DocOnline
• eHealth Agency
• Public Health Agency
• Medical Products Agency
• FORTE
• Socialdepartmentet
• Swecare Foundation

Special Mention

• Embassy of India in Sweden
• EMPE Diagnostics
• Gothenburg Business Region
• AstraZeneca
• Sweden-India Business Council
• Swedish Chamber of Commerce in India (SCCI)
• Business Sweden
• Vinnova

For those interested in India - come check-out India-Sweden Business Day

Inkommande Delegation från Saudiarabien:

ledd av hälsominister H.E. Dr. Tawfiq Al Rabiah

De sista dagarna i juni besöktes Sverige av en delegation ledd av hälsoministern i Saudiarabien. Stora reformer genomförs på hälsoområdet och saudierna är måna om att utforma ett modernt och kostnadseffektivt system som levererar sjukvård av hög kvalitet. Man vill inte hamna i fällan där många länder fortfarande befinner sig att satsningar handlar om att skapa stora sjukhus, ett visst antal sjukhusbäddar eller liknande utan istället skapa incitamenten för en frisk och hälsosam befolkning genom att utveckla förebyggande insatser och effektiv primärvård. Ledorden under besöket var hur man skapar värde, och begrepp som värdebaserad vård och värdebaserad prissättning diskuterades flitigt.

Förutom att möta sin motpart Annika Strandhäll deltog delegationen även i ett rundabordssamtal med svenska myndigheter på sjukvårdsområdet samt ett samtal med svenska företag. Intresset för samarbete är stort och man välkomnar kontakter och partnerskap med de svenska företagen. Ett område som fick stort utrymme och uppenbarligen ligger ministern nära om hjärtat är frågor kring digitalisering.

Tre MoU-avtal signerades under delegationsbesöket, en med Skåne Care och två med AstraZeneca. Det officiella besöket till Sverige arrangerades tillsammans av Svenska Ambassaden i Riyadh, Business Sweden och Swecare.

Myndigheter:

• eHälsomyndigheten
• Folkhälsomyndigheten
• Läkemedelsverket
• Socialstyrelsen

Företag:

• Aleris
• AlerisX
• AstraZeneca
• Bactiguard
• Diaverum
• Essity
• Getinge
• GHP
• Global Pharma Consulting
• MinDoktor
• Mölnlycke Health Care
• Sectra Imaging
• Skåne Care
• Sobi
• Surgical Science
• Sweco
• TSS
• UCR - Uppsala Clinical Research Center
• Vironova

Studiebesök till:

• Sofiahemmet
• Vironova
• Folkhälsomyndigheten
• AstraZeneca Mölndal
• Volvo
• GHP
• Sahlgrenska

Om du är intresserad av att delta i nästa planerade aktivitet med Saudiarabien under hösten, hör gärna av dig till Swecare.

Rwanda & Uganda: Exploring East Africa - Part II

Diversity. The cross-section of Swedish society represented in our delegation surprised even us organizers. We came from government, agency, institutions, and private business; covering the domains of diplomacy, policy, financing, MedTech, pharma, eHealth, and consulting; with origins ranging from South Africa, Kenya, Bangladesh, China, and Germany; all of us representing and promoting Sweden - and Swedish expertise, with a goal to learn, collaborate, and strengthen our capacity. We were also joined by a representative from our EU-funded project Central Baltic Health Access, Piret Hirv from Tallinn Tehnopol Sience Park.

The objective of this delegation trip, like the one to Kenya and Tanzania in November, was to take a few companies, institutions, and state representatives to Rwanda and Uganda, to meet potential local collaborators with whom they can forge longlasting partnerships in order to expand, and/or establish, their presence in and across East Africa.

The delegation trip itself would not have come about without the close collaboration between Swecare Foundation, Business Sweden, and the Swedish Embassies in Kigali and Kampala as well as the CBHA. The visibility and credibility of the delegation increase significantly when we work towards a common goal while planning these visits.

Program Overview

The trip started with Monday morning with a briefing at the Swedish Embassy in Kigali, led by the Swedish Ambassador to Rwanda, Jenny Ohlsson. 

Site visits included a trip to the Military Hospital, which is in the process of installing an Elekta unit in their largely insurance-covered facilities. The delegation then met with the Director General of Clinical Services at the Rwandan Ministry of Health and got a first-hand account of the evolving state of the Rwandan healthcare systems at the sprawling Kigali University Teaching Hospital (CHUK). It was encouraging to hear about the amount of resources the Rwandan government devotes in ensuring that an increasing number of patients are covered by insurance. The day ended with a reception hosted at the Swedish Residence.

On our second day, we had the extraordinary privilege of attending the first African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCTA) Business Forum, one-day before the signing of this historic commitment. This was followed by our own East African Community Business & Investment Forum, an annual initiative by the Swedish East Africa Chamber of Commerce (SWEACC) with a focus on health this year. Despite strong competition from the much-larger coinciding event, we had a decent turnout (see picture above) and, more importantly, a couple of heated sessions on disease management and long-term financing solutions. The session included a welcome by Dr Jean-Pierre Nyamanzi, the Permanent Secretary at the Rwandan Ministry of Health, an introduction by our delegation leader Niclas Jacobson from Socialdepartmentet and a talk by an industry expert, Hans Winberg of the independent policy thinktank Leading Health Care. This was followed by B2B meetings for our private sector partners. 

After an early flight into Entebbe on our third day, we made a site visit to the National Medical Stores, which handles the procurement and distribution of goods for the public hospital system, before heading into Kampala, Uganda. The Swedish Embassy in Kampala organized an impressive networking reception which drew all the major actors in the Ugandan healthcare sector - a testament to the incredible relationship between our two countries. Such was the interest in our companies, that many of the delegates did not get a chance to sample any of the refreshments on offer. I am looking forward to seeing some of the contacts made that evening develop into concrete partnerships. Swecare and Tallinn Tehnopol Science Park took this opportunity to sign a MoU with the Ugandan Healthcare Federation in order to formalize the existing collaboration under the CBHA program.

Our big surprise the next day was a meeting with the Ugandan Minister of Health herself, the Honorable Minister Sarah Opendi, whom, we had been told, would be unable to meet with us. She went out of the way in order to make time to sit down with us to discuss taking projects and investments to the next stage. The delegation made site visits to the new maternity wing of Uganda's largest hospital, Mulago Referral Hospital, and its associated Ugandan Cancer Institute (UCI), which has also recently acquired an Elekta unit. After short meetings at the Joint Medical Stores and the new management at International Hospital Kampala, we said goodbye to much of the delegation as only a few of us stayed on for one last, optional, morning session at the UK-East Africa Health Improvement Summit.

Most common requests:

• More frequent visits
• Clear follow-up
• Financing solutions
• Technician training

Participating Companies

Much of the reason for the success of this delegation trip rests with the participants - a dedicated set of smart, funny, and flexible individuals. Thank you for coming!

• Getinge
• Elekta
• Doctrin
• Luco Holding
• AstraZeneca
• Swedfund
• MedCardApps (MCA)

For those who were not with us this time, do look into joining us on one of our upcoming trips: Swecare Events.

En vänskapsmatch mellan likar när Sverige och Kanada möttes

Det var absolut fullsatt när Swecare tillsammans med Business Sweden, RISE och Fiberoptic Valley bjöd in till seminarium om den kanadensiska marknaden.

Introduktionen till marknaden av Agata Leszkiewicz och Christian Orrego Silvander från Business Sweden i Toronto visade på de stora likheterna vad gäller (företags)kulturella aspekter, demografi, decentralisering och kostnader i sjukvårdssystemet, digitaliseringsbehov särskilt inom distansvård, då tillgänglighet är lika stor utmaning som i Sverige med långa vårdköer och effektiviserade sjukhus med få sängplatser. De tre stora skillnaderna mellan länderna är den geografiska storleken, de stora läkemedelskostnaderna och de höga läkarlönerna i Kanada.

Detta bidrar till att det är relativt lätt för svenska bolag att etablera sig i Kanada, såsom Per Stenström, VD på Medrave Systems AB erfarit med deras satsning men att man också upplevt den tröghet som ofta förknippas med Sverige att komma till affär, vilket är en utmaning för särskilt mindre bolag.

Därför är stöd och partners på plats viktiga, men också att ha rätt ingångar till de flera organisationer som finns för att den kanadensiska vården ska fånga upp innovationer. Ett exempel är CABHI (Center for aging and brain health innovation) och Simon Cheesman presenterade över Skype hur de arbetar och kan stötta bolag som vill in på marknaden.

För det måste nämnas att Kanada inte enbart är en intressant marknad som handeln kan öka till, landet ligger i framkant inom forskning på områden mellan IKT, Life Science och Healthcare såsom AI och gamification så potentialen för strategiska partnerskap och kunskapsutbyte är högt, vilket gör att forskningsinstitutet RISE och Fiberoptic Valley finner landet högprioriterat.

Slutligen, som vi i tidigare Kanada-seminarier nämnt är det främst i Ontario och Quebec som befolkningen, industrin och investeringarna är koncentrerade vilket gör att Toronto blir målet för den kommande delegationsresan som vi gör tillsammans med seminariets organisatörer.

På återseende! See you again! au revoir!

Joint Swedish-German workshop for bilateral cooperation in eHealth

It was a happy crowd that gathered at the German Embassy in Stockholm, as the forth meeting this year to move further in the spirit of the innovation partnership that exists.

The experts, trade organizations and government representatives were welcomed by Dr. Hans-Jürgen Heimsoeth, German Ambassador to Sweden, after which Andreas Hartl, Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, and Nino Mangiapane, Federal Ministry of Health presented how eHealth is important for the continuation of growth of the German economy. The German healthcare sector is the single most backwards industry when it comes to digitalization which is of course a setback for an otherwise world leading manufacturer and provider of healthcare products and services. There are many challenges such as regulations, decentralization, integrity concerns from the citizens but also the lack of perception of the urgency to adapt and digitalize. Which was heavily debated by the participants.

After which MiH reps from both countries, Henrik Moberg and Niklas Kramer presented current plans for digitalization in healthcare. Followed up by a knowledgeable and empathic presentation on political backing of these initiatives by Anders Lönnberg, National Coordinator for the life sciences leading to heavy table-knocking from all participants.

To move from the regulations, integrity and policy heavy topic to a lighter subject, Julia Hagen from Bitkom presented the challenges for startups in Germany and here both parties could argue that there is a risk of brain drain if policy-makers and the public healthcare providers are too slow to act on these challenges. That entrepreneurs are increasingly looking for offshores markets to sell and even relocate to. While investments were lifted as a challenge the major challenge is rather revenue and unclarity on the regulatory requirements such as CE-marking and GDPR.

This lead to the area of data usage, which lead to a warm and intense debate, where both the role of standards, updated regulations, and creation of roadmaps and guidelines was lifted. Here the German Electronic Health Card was discussed as well as the Swedish unlaunched initiatives such as HälsaförMig™, and the underlying software, where the usage of bitcoin could be a solution. All parties agreed that a huge problem in the legislature is that technology advances faster and it is hard to judge past solutions with todays or tomorrows technical capacity. Further the need of making legislative bodies and governments more Tech-savvy to understand that the technology is seldom black-or-white but very adaptive to different sorts of needs such as those regarding dynamic consent, opt-in and opt-out and other things that is fully technically possible. Estonia was lifted as an example of a forwards’ nation in how to understand the potential and dynamics of the technology in a realistic and pragmatic way for government needs. Finally, parties agreed that while Sweden and Germany has a lot to learn from each other, we should also include best practice learnings from the outside in particular in the set-up of consensus creation such as the Seqouia project for sharing health data.

The concrete next steps wanted are a formalized innovation platform to continue these discussions to reduce barriers of entry to the markets, and retain and grow our homegrown eHealth companies, AND on a more concrete tone the trade delegation 7-8 February to Berlin that SWECARE and the German-Swedish Chamber of Commerce organize.

Zusammen!

Kenya & Tanzania: Exploring East Africa - Part I

Samarbete - Collaboration. A concept which sounds deceptively simple. The objective of this delegation trip was to take a limited number of Swedish companies (and in this case one institution) to Kenya and Tanzania in order to meet potential local collaborators with whom they can forge longlasting partnerships in order to expand, and/or establish, their presence in East Africa.

The delegation trip itself would not have come about without the close collaboration between Swecare Foundation and Business Sweden. After the phenomenal initial interest which surprised even us, it seemed that the trip might not even take place. We were obliged to wait for the political situation in Kenya to stabilize before we could confirm the program and bookings with our delegates. By this time, the uncertainty had caused a few of the interested actors to back out. Although we had always wanted a small delegation, one or two companies would not be enough to capture the interest of local partners, nor would it have been financially viable. It had to be lagom. But as is often the case, things have a way of working out at the last minute and we ended up with 15 people from seven Swedish companies participating. And the 19-23 November trip was quite the success.

Program Overview

Anna Jardfelt welcoming the delegation

The trip started with a short but extremely productive cocktail at the Swedish Residence in Nairobi on Monday, presided over by the Swedish Ambassador to Kenya, Anna Jardfelt, and the United Nations' Resident Coordinator, Siddarth Chatterjee. Networking had already started and meetings were arranged even before the program had properly begun. 

Representatives from the Kenyan Ministry of Health, the country manager of PharmAccess, and our own Hans Winberg from Leading Health Care spoke to a targeted Kenyan audience and the delegation during the morning seminar on Tuesday. The Swedish companies also got a chance to present themselves in order to clarify their vision and the types of partnerships they seek. The theme, loosely defined, was increasing efficiency through regional partnership and collaboration, with a focus on the most immediate healthcare challenges in East Africa.

As inspiring as talks were, what our delegation appreciated the most were the B2B meetings arranged in the afternoon. Keeping the group small meant that instead of the quick 10 minute chats one usually has during these sessions, our participants could spend up to 30 minutes on each meeting if it was going well. The value of such meetings cannot be overestimated. The key to successful collaborations often hinges on the unlikeliest of factors - do you actually get along? Do you enjoy the time you spend together? We all know that in our personal lives respect and affinity are the basis of all good partnerships, but we often dismiss this while making professional choices. Don't. Spend the time necessary to get to know each other. We hope and suspect that many left the day's events not only with business cards, but with potential friends.

Part of the delegation during the Coptic Hospital visit in Nairobi

Site visits in Nairobi took place on Wednesday before the evening flight to Dar es Salaam. The delegation received a warm welcome at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Kenyatta National Hospital, and Coptic Hospital. Most common requests:

• Longterm financing solutions for equipment
• capacity building & skill transfer
• local market presence

Our day in Dar es Salaam took the shape of a Road Show which started with a meeting with representatives from the Tanzanian Ministry of Health at the Swedish Embassy. This was a good lead for a number of companies in the delegation who felt that success in Tanzania would very much depend on the goodwill of the government as they crack down on corruption. This meeting was followed by site visits to Medical Stores Department, Muhimbili National Hospital, and Ocean Road Cancer Institute and ended with a reception hosted by the Ambassador of Sweden to Tanzania, Katarina Rangnitt, at her Residence.

Participating Companies

Much of the reason for the success of this delegation trip rests with the participants - a dedicated set of highly intelligent, passionate, and fun individuals. Thank you for coming!

• AstraZeneca - Health Heart Africa
• East Africa Technologies, Medtech, Pharmaceuticals, and Medical Supplies (EATMPS)
• Elekta
• HemoCue
• Karolinska Universitetssjukhus
• MedCardApps (MCA)
• Pansanté
• Systemair

Interested in learning more about our leads in East Africa? Email us and plan to join us in Rwanda and Uganda for Part II of this delegation, 19-22 March, 2018.