Swecare goes Göteborg!

För någon vecka sedan samlades en stor del av Swecares arbetsstyrka på Stockholms C, för att ta tåget till Göteborg. Vi har länge haft ett besök i planerna, för att träffa några av våra trevliga medlemsföretag på hemmaplan och passa på att knyta kontakt med nya och gamla bekanta.

Mikaela, Anna, Shampa och Maria på vift!

Först besökte vi Getinge i deras fina lokaler och fick bl a höra att vart fjärde operationsbord kommer ifrån dem, och att de satsar mycket på utbildning av både distributörer och användare. Näst på tur var Abigo, som når 70 länder med t ex det bakteriebindande plåstret Sorbact som tillverkas i Askersund. Sista besöket dag 1 gick till AstraZeneca i Mölndal, där vi fick går runt i deras interaktiva "Molecular World" innan vi träffade Bioventure Hub (https://www.azbioventurehub.com/) där framväxande bioteknik och medtech företag och akademiska grupper ges tillfälle att dela lokaler och interagera med "bigpharma" och varandra.

Losec molekylen

Vi avslutade dagen med en väldigt trevlig AW vid Kungstorget. Ett mysigt sätt att hinna träffa fler medlemmar, partners, gamla och nya bekanta.

Dag 2 började med en morgonpromenad till Elof Hanssons kontor, med utsikt över hamnen. Vi diskuterade bl a vikten av att Sverige kan bidra till konkurrenskraftiga och lättfattliga finansieringslösningar, genom t ex EKN och SEK. Vi kan konstatera att det är i Göteborg man ska jobba om man vill ha utsikt över vattnet! Särskilt avundsjuka blev vi över utsikten från Cellmarks kontor. Det var också spännande att höra om Cellmark Medical. De kan tack vare sin internationella närvaro hjälpa till att koppla utvalda medtech tillverkare med lokala distributörer, sjukhus och andra kunder runt om i världen.

Fint väder - fin utsikt i Göteborg

Besöket i Göteborg gav verkligen mersmak (inte bara utsikterna över vattnet och räkmacka till lunch). Det var verkligen givande och roligt att träffa medlemmar och partners på Sveriges framsida, så vi lovar att snart komma tillbaka!

#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

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.