A week of high- level visits

Sweden was host for the third Global Ministerial Road Safety Conference last week that gathered a lot of interesting high-level officials from all over the world. Swecare got the opportunity to meet and arrange meetings with visitors from Nigeria, Qatar, India and Kazakhstan aside from the conference.

We hosted a meeting with Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Bin Hamad Bin J. Al-Thani who has been the Director of Public Health at the Supreme Council of Health in Qatar since 2008. He presented their National Health Strategy 2018-2022 and more in depth the Public Health Strategy 2017- 2022. It was a popular event and all seats were taken. We managed to make sure the participants got a one-to-one conversation with him about each specific area of interest from; Mentice, Karolinska Institute, Elekta, Bactiguard, Global Pharma Consulting, Xinix, Stockholm Care and Calmark.

On Thursday we had a round table meeting hosted by state secretary Maja Fjaestad that welcomed a Nigerian delegation headed by Mr. B Mustapha, Secretary to the Government, and included Dr. E Osagie Ehanire, Minister for Health and Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, Minister for Transportation. Even though our countries in size and population are very different we still have common challenges such as access to health care in rural areas. With us on the Swedish side we had; Byon8, Hack for Sweden, Bactiguard, Grace Health, Elekta, Sweco and Pansanté.

Finally, with quite short notice, state secretary Maja Fjaestad received the vice minister for Health from Kazakhstan, Mr. Kamalzhan Nadyrov. Swecare participated in the meeting to represent the Swedish companies. Mr. Nadyrov expressed great interest in Swedish Healthcare and Swedish solutions. Kazakhstan is planning substantial reforms of the Healthcare system. Many existing hospitals and medical facilities are being upgraded and 23 new multifunctional hospitals are to be built by 2025. Areas of special interest that were mentioned were development of primary care, prevention, digitalization, medical records, cancer managementand infection prevention and antibiotic resistance.

Swecares julmingel 2018

Efter årets sista styrelsemöte och premiär för vår nya seminarieserie runt temat "personcentrerad vård", var det i onsdags dags för Swecares årliga julmingel. Det har blivit lite av en tradition att varje år få bjuda in er alla till en härlig eftermiddag med skön julmusik, varm glögg, knapriga pepparkakor och sprudlande mingel. Tack till alla som kom och minglade denna decemberkväll, vi var många från företag, sjukvård och organisationer och myndigheter som syntes mingla tillsammans.

Årets gästtalare var ambassadören för global hälsa, Anders Nordström som berättade om Sveriges aktiva arbete på detta område, genomförandet av Agenda 2030 och som generöst delade med sig av sin djupa & breda erfarenhet.

"Det globala hälsomålet handlar inte längre enbart om överlevnad utan om att människor ska kunna leva långa och friska liv", säger Anders Nordström.

Anders Lönnberg, Generalkommissarie, tog vid och berättade om sitt uppdrag att planera och genomföra Sveriges deltagande vid världsutställningen Expo 2020 i Dubai.

På tal om det avslöjades i torsdags det vinnande förslaget i arkitekttävlingen för Sveriges deltagande i världsutställningen Expo 2020. Vinnaren blev Alessandro Ripellino arkitekter. Vinnarförslaget har mottot The Forest och har i sin design av den svenska paviljongen tagit hänsyn till bland annat design, hållbart material och funktionalitet. Läs mer om Sveriges deltagande och tema via länkarna i slutet av vår blogg.

Swecares ordförande Vivianne Macdisi och vd Maria Helling framförde också sina julhälsningar och tackade för ett bra jubileumsår. Mycket aktiviteter och många resor till Indien, USA, Kina, Holland, Frankrike, Turkiet, Tyskland, Rwanda och Uganda, m flera har genomförts. Ett aktivt jubileumsår med många nya kontaktytor som lett till en medlemstillströmning och i år hälsar vi nästan 18 nya medlemsföretag välkomna.

Bland gästerna syntes medlemsföretag, partners, och andra organisationer. Regeringskansliet var välrepresenterat med ss Agneta Karlsson och ss Maja Fjaestad, Socialdepartementet och UD. Efter ett par timmar med glögg, julmust och utbyte av tankar och idéer kring det internationella arbetet inom hälsa, sjukvård, Life Science, personcentrerad vård, osv. drog sig deltagarna så småningom hemåt i den tillsynes stjärnklara och kyliga decemberkvällen.

Än en gång vill vi tacka alla i vårt nätverk och framförallt medlemmarna för gott samarbete. Förutsättningarna för ett lyckat 2019 känns mycket goda och nu ger vi järnet de sista två veckorna innan jul med ett par sista möten, förberedelser inför Arab Health 2019, besök hos ett par medlemmar och lite julstädning veckan före jul.

Varma julhälsningar,
Vännerna på Swecare

Om världsutställningen i Dubai 2020. Här.

Om Sveriges deltagande och tema. Här.

Om arkitekt-tävlingen och uppdraget. Här.

Svenska paviljongen i Dubai blir en skog

 #expo2020sweden @expo2020dubai #expo2020dubai @TeamSwedenSE @AnnLinde @mikaeldamberg

2019: Planning for the Year Ahead

Sweden & India - Partners in Health

A commitment has now been made by both the Swedish Socialdepartementet and the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to make 2019 the Year of Health - #SwedenIndiaHealth2019. As we plan for the year ahead, we welcome your input as your engagement is crucial to this partnership. The focus will be on aligning Swedish Triple Helix life science actors in delivering a structured solution to common challenges in India. Concrete deliverables along the care continuum is the ultimate objective of this collaboration. Once this proof of concept yields results - increased efficiency, decreased costs, healthier community - the Indian government has expressed interest in scaling the concept to other parts of the country. The Indian Ministry suggests Jodhpur, and its new All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), as the test bed for this collaboration.

This, of course, does not preclude collaborations in other parts of India and many of our partners and members have ongoing projects throughout the country. We foresee increased activities with AIIMS New Delhi, Apollo Hospitals, Public Health Foundation of India, MaxCure Group, India Institute of Technology in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Chennai, to name a few. But these will all be conducted with a view to ensure that Swedish stakeholders, despite having distinct objectives, will be moving in the same direction. Partnerships between Swedish actors is encouraged so that the momentum we have generated results in concrete (measurable) outputs.

Proposed timeline for 10-year celebrations in 2019

• January - pre-feasibility study in Jodhpur to determine scope

• 24-28 February - Swedish Ministerial visit to Delhi (and Jodhpur) in conjunction with the Global Digital Health Partnership 

• April/May - heads of Indian hospitals will be invited to Sweden for a study visit and workshop

• 21-23 May - Vitalis 2019 session to focus on AI & Innovation with an incoming health tech delegation which will visit incubators and hubs in Stockholm and Gothenburg

• September - agency and private sector workshop in India

• October/November - Indian Ministerial or Health Secretary visit to Stockholm along with the 11th Joint Working Group meeting

Other dates to keep in mind

• 5 December - 2nd Private Sector Steering Committee Meeting

• 25-27 February - BioAsia 2019 in Hyderabad

• April/May - Indian elections

• 11-12 October - InnoHEALTH 2019 in New Delhi

• The Swedish India Business Council will also be organising tech delegations so please keep an eye on their website

Calls out

• Big data and Artificial Intelligence for monitoring health status and quality of life after the cancer treatment

• 9th Call - JPIAMR Call on Diagnostics and Surveillance 2019

• Affordable & Accessible Health Care through Early Screening and Efficient Management

Focus areas

• Digital Health - non-communicable diseases, elderly care, AI, Health Tech

• Anti-Microbial Resistance - infection control, knowledge transfer, nurse training, medtech

May I please request that if you have upcoming activities, you contact us so that we can provide the necessary support both in Sweden and in India? We will be coordinating closely with the Indian Embassy in Stockholm and the Swedish Embassy in New Delhi and one of the proposed ideas is to create a quarterly newsletter highlighting events within the life science sector between our two countries which could also act as a status report so do write to us!

Stort intresse i Ryssland för svensk teknik och kunnande

Den 12:e November var det dags för ännu en inkommande rysk delegation, denna gång en delegation från Federal Fund of Compulsory Health Insurance www.ffoms.ru med syftet att lära känna sjukvårdssystemet i Sverige. Delegationen leddes av Mrs. Oxana Kovalenko, Head of Accounting and Reporting och bestod utav chefer inom centralorganisationen samt direktörer från regionalfonderna i 11 delrepubliker.

Det var en frågvis grupp som ville förstå hur bl.a. sjukvårdssystemets kärnvärden, strukturer och funktionsprinciper. Vidare hade man stort intresse att förstå hur man arbetar både centralt och lokalt med modernisering, betalningssystem och innovationsupptag. Även om man fann det häpnadsväckande att en så decentraliserad vård kan resultera i sådan hög kvalitet och bra vårdresultat var man tydlig med att man ser stora fördelar av att implementera svensk teknik och kunnande.

#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

One crucial factor we often take for granted

In our 40 years, there is one lesson Swecare learned early, and which has been proven time and time again: successfully launching a Swedish healthcare company in a new market requires solid collaboration with a local partner. One with intimate knowledge of the local healthcare systems, long-term relationships with the key players within it, and a determination to do good. As a celebrity recently claimed – healthcare is complicated. Even those working in other industries, including defense, would agree that nowhere does local values, politics, culture, economic means have more impact than in healthcare. Projections of GDP growth, investment figures, risk assessments, population dividend and other macro figures are not enough to determine whether a product or service from within the Swedish healthcare and life science sector will be successful in a new market. Ours is a traditional sector by definition – nothing is as sacred as saving lives. Introducing new solutions even within our own borders is a challenge, doing so in countries which do not share our language, culture, social structure, even more so. Swecare realised early that our secret weapon is, and despite the advent of AI will remain for some time, our partners around the world - partners who have a stake in our success: who understand the way doctors work, hospitals purchase, politicians fund, and patient seek care.

Swedish Medtech, Swecare, and InnovatioCuris
representatives signing the MoU at Vitalis 2018 in Gothenburg

This week marked another milestone in Swecare's work within the EU-funded Central Baltic Health Access project. While we served as 'local' coaches for the companies within this Swedish Medtech-led project, the success of the program was very much dependent on our 'target market' coaches. In March we signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Uganda Healthcare Federation strengthening our commitment to work together in order to support more companies in entering the Ugandan Market. And on Tuesday this week Swecare signed an MoU with Sachin Gaur of InnovatioCuris at Vitalis 2018, pledging:

• exchange of information
• promotion of opportunities
• initial contact and consultation
• networking services

Sachin has proven to be an incredible partner, with InnovatioCuris providing the companies that traveled to India under CBHA with invaluable support. He is an expert on cyber security and innovations in healthcare management. Together with his CEO Dr VK Singh, they have turned InnovatioCuris into one of the few leading consultancies focussing solely in healthcare and life sciences in India. We hope that this project is once of many more collaborations to come.

Tallinn Science Park Technopol, Uganda Healthcare Federation,
and Swecare representatives signing the MoU with
Swedish and Ugandan Ministries of Health as witness in Kampala

CB Health Access program was initiated in 2016 between Estonian, Finnish, Latvian and Swedish technology organizations to support entrepreneurship in health technologies. The program facilitates the entry of Estonian, Latvian, Swedish and Finnish health tech companies to distant markets – South Korea, USA, India and Uganda. CB Health Access provides the companies with an introduction of the target market, individual coaching both from the home country and from target market experts, market information, business missions, and identifying and contacting potential partners, and business missions. The program has a strong focus for the companies to achieve sales in the chosen market. The program is financed by Central Baltic Interreg Program.

For more information on the CB Health Access program see https://www.cbhealthaccess.eu/ and visit Swecare Blog.

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.

New opportunities in Canada for European companies when CETA – free trade agreement was presented

This year has been a year of changes on many levels globally, and for companies these have formed both opportunities and threats, and most of all a need to learn how these changes affect the market attractiveness to make informed decisions.  However, as HE Heather Grant the Ambassador of Canada to Sweden in her opening speech expressed the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement between Canada and the European Union (CETA) is a very progressive free trade agreement that by eliminating tariffs and reducing barriers is a mutual good for both Canada and Sweden. This sentiment was shared by Agneta Karlsson, State Secretary, Ministry of Health and Social Affairs that reminded us that both nation share an interest in an open trade-friendly world order and strive for progress in the healthcare area for all citizens.

The seminars started with on overview of the Canadian Healthcare sector by Ebba Hult from Business Sweden where she showed the solid growth of imports of Medical Devices and Pharmaceuticals to Canada, so while the Canadian market is still a relatively small importer of Swedish solutions with heavy reliance on USA and Germany, this sector is a growing market for Swedish companies to export to. So regardless of the free trade agreement the macroeconomic factors are in favor.

Didier Culat and Tuba Yamac from BCF business law then explained how companies should prepare for entering the Canadian market and how CETA effects life science companies, with Tuba focusing mainly on the changes in Intellectual Property procedures and changes, and how differences and harmonization effects companies in USA, Canada, UK and EU. So while the central aspects had to do with elimination of custom tariffs and controlling the origins of the products, there were lots of lessons learnt on things to consider upon a North American entry regarding labour mobility, sub-national procurement opportunities and how to strategically select your company location depending on which markets you are targeting.  With Quebec and Ontario having the largest life science clusters and getting the bulk of investments it was pleasing to hear from the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs that Annika Strandhäll will head to Toronto in May 2018.

Bienvenue au Canada! Welcome to Canada!

”De Tio Förbudsorden” om Pharma och eHälsobolagen får prioritera

Eftermiddagen 13 November fylldes konferenslokalen i City Life av forskande läkemedelsbolag och eHälsobolag med syftet att nätverka och sinsemellan diskutera kring vilka utmaningar i vårdens digitalisering som påverkar bolagen mest.

Initiativet för träffen togs utav Swecare och LIF, som en del av den samverkan som blivit enklare i och med att vi numera är goda grannar i det Life science kluster som bildats på Sveavägen 63, i Stockholm. Båda medlemsorganisationer har egna fokusgrupper (sk. Task Force) för just Digitalisering och eHälsa, där man både bedriver kunskapsutbyte och diskuterar initiativ inom området.

Eftersom deltagarna alla har stor kompetens inom området och utbytet sinsemellan är viktigt blev formatet rundabordssamtal, kring temat digitalisering av vården. För att ha en gemensam bas att diskutera från och att inte uppfinna hjulet så bjöds Hans Winberg, från Leading Healthcare in som öppningstalare för att presentera ”De Tio Förbudsorden”. Saker man INTE ska göra för att underlätta digitaliseringen! Mycket spännande tyckte deltagarna som efter en livlig diskussion vid kaffepausen tog vid med uppgiften att i rundabordssamtal prioritera bland dessa förbudsord.

Det framkom vid presentationerna att båda typer av bolag numera hade en samstämmig syn kring vilka utmaningarna var och vad man INTE ska göra för att underlätta digitalisering. Det handlade om att Ersättningssystemen inte ska hindra innovation, Data ska inte behöva skrivas in flera gånger manuellt om det kan automatiseras eller göras tillgängligt mha bättre interoperabilitet, och Patienter ska inte hindras från att möta vården och delta i sin egen vård med de digitala verktyg som existerar.

När de tuffa frågorna avhandlats och deltagarna passade på att mingla och utbyta visitkort, antecknade projektledarna från Swecare och LIF flitigt så att detta fångas upp och återkopplas till fokusgrupperna.

Förändringsagenter vilar aldrig!

The Largest Audience Ever - when Swedish Companies tour USA

Five companies from Sweden attended a business mission to USA in October-November 2017 to meet with healthcare insurance companies, legal and market entry experts, science parks and incubators and a lobbyist or two. The business visit was organized in cooperation with Swedish Medtech, Embassy of Sweden in Washington DC, The Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce (SACC-USA and SACC –DC), with support from AHP International and The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The business visit was performed under the framework of CB Health Access, a joint program between Sweden, Finland, Estonia and Latvia, which supports health technology companies entering distant markets.  

 

During the business mission to USA, the companies visited several sites in the Greater Philadelphia to Greater DC corridor.  The business mission started in Philadelphia where the companies met healthcare insurance companies, legal and market entry experts, science parks and incubators. The first day of meetings were held at the Morgan Lewis office, where meetings with Independence Blue Cross, and Ben Frankling Technology Partners, and the president for Sectra Inc. Which was concluded with socializing with the amazing local investors and Ulf Åkerblom the Swedish honorary consul to US.

The following day the companies visited Dreamit Ventures and other inhabitants at the Science Center, after which a meeting was held at the Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia with representatives of the regional eco-system such as City of Philadelphia, Select Greater Philadelphia and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The latter has a collaboration with AHP International on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and thus had helped out with the Philadelphia program, thus the companies met AHP before traveling to Washington DC for a meeting on regulations with Advamed, located with a view of The Capitolium, what the companies managed to get a guided tour before closure.

The following day, the companies had a full day program at The House of Sweden, with experts on thrilling topics such as Macroeconomics & Political Outlook, Healthcare Laws & Regulations, e-Health interoperability initiatives, US.market entry from an academic and Swedish company experience outlook and finally what the essence of lobbying is. The program was done in cooperation with the Swedish-American Chamber of Commerce that was helpful in arranging meetings, speakers and logistics. In the evening the companies and speaker had a rendezvous at welcome reception hosted at the Swedish ambassador’s residence.

The final day, the companies had tours to Medtronic,where the companies learned about how the global leader in medical devices is reinventing its role in the healthcare chain, setting up it´s own clinics in Europe. After which the tour continued to the Inova Center for Personalized Health in Virginia, where the companies got to learn how ICPH uses the latest science and technology to focus on the integration of genomics into personalized medicine and individualized wellness, as well as having individual meetings with experts. So after dropping half of the people at the airport the brave few continued to Maryland for a meeting with Get Real Health, created the personal health account commissioned by the Swedish eHealth Agency, called Hälsa för Mig.

CB Health Access program was initiated in 2016 between Estonian, Finnish, Latvian and Swedish technology organizations to support entrepreneurship in health technologies. The program facilitates the entry of Estonian, Latvian, Swedish and Finnish health tech companies to distant markets – South Korea, USA, India and Uganda. CB Health Access provides the companies with an introduction of the target market, individual coaching both from the home country and from target market experts, market information, business missions, and identifying and contacting potential partners, and business missions. The program has a strong focus for the companies to achieve sales in the chosen market. The program is financed by Central Baltic Interreg Program.

For more information on the CB Health Access program see https://www.cbhealthaccess.eu/, or contact: Maarika.Merirand@tehnopol.ee, Malin.Hollmark@swedishmedtech.se or Anna.Riby@swecare.se

9th Session for the Indo-Swedish Joint Working Group on Health

Often referred to as the most successful MoU in our joint arsenal, the healthcare cooperation has done much to bring India and Sweden closer. Though vastly different demographically, our countries share similar challenges due to a very decentralized governance structure and a large percentage of our populations living far from health care centers. As such, many of the common challenges we face can only be overcome through collaboration and cooperation. In the coming year, ahead of the MoU's 10th anniversary, it was decided during the actual Joint Working Group meeting to take stock on what has been accomplished and explore new areas of collaboration.

For the private sector, this means we need more clarity on the recent bevy of policy changes. Although these changes for the large part have improved the business climate, they are quite confusing not only for the Swedes but Indian themselves. The Indian delegation, which included a senior representative from the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO), very generously shared their business cards with the Swedish companies present for the roundtable and assured each and every one of them to personally call in case of any issues.

The delegation also got a chance to see some of the Swedish products in use at Akademiska in Uppsala and was much impressed by the extremely close collaboration between professors, researchers, medical professionals, investors, and industry. While the Indian government representatives understood that these are the ingredients making Sweden such fertile ground for innovation, they had never truly appreciated how tightly, both physically and intellectually, these actors work together. This was further emphasized during their visit to EMPE Diagnostics at the Karolinska Science Park with which they ended the trip.

Going forward, Swecare, at the behest of some of our members, will focus on:

1. the inclusion of quality criteria in public healthcare tenders - looking in not just the lowest, but the total cost, and
2. exemptions based on global health threats (such as AMR which features prominently in the new Indian National Health Policy) for the price caps being introduced for certain Medtech products by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority.

We are also working to ensure more continuity in our activities with India. Part of this will be through regularly planned trips to India and the cultivation of relationships with potential partners on the ground. If you have any suggestions or requests, do get in touch. India is a vast, and often overwhelming, country but the rewards for successful partnership could eventually affect the national and global health threats facing both Sweden and India - not to mention improve the lives of people.

Rysk sjukvård i behov utav svenska lösningar

På torsdag morgonen 5 oktober möttes tiotalet medlemsbolag för ett seminarium om affärsmöjligheter i Ryssland.

Morgonen inleddes utav en bakgrund till Swecares tidigare satsningar i Ryssland av Nima Jokilaakso, samt de aktiviteter som på sistone skett från offentligt håll, även om relationen fortfarande är ansträngd.  Efter en tour-de-table presenterade Per-Olof Egli från Thriatlon som beskrev hur den ryska sjukvårdens situation, hur rysk ekonomi utvecklats och vilka effekter sanktionerna haft. En viktig presentation då det ofta upplevs finnas en brist på kunskap kring hur behov och företagssituationen i Ryssland är idag, då det ofta överskuggas av den politiska debatten i Sverige. Där andra europeiska länder aktivt söker affärer på marknaden medan den svenska närvaron på marknaden är relativt liten.

Eurasian Economic Union, ett frihandelsavtal i regionen som har likheter med NAFTA diskuterades. För affärer inom sjukvården behövs federalt accept men avtalen sker mer på regionnivå (totalt 85 st), stor variation av typ av regioner finns (med egna hälsovårdsministerier), vilket självstyre man har och ekonomisk kapacitet. Målen från PM Medvedev är att öka folkhälsan, öka läkarkårens kompetens och antal, och höja kvaliteten i vårdens organisation togs upp. Samt vilka möjligheter de planer på förbättrad kundservice och renlighet i vården kan ha för svenska bolag.

Ryssland har fler sjukhussängar (82) och läkare (46) per 1000 innevånare än OECD snittet på ca 60 respektive 30, vilket är nästan 4 ggr fler sängplatser men ungefär lika många läkare som i Sverige. Ändå finns önskemål om att öka kvantitet och kvalitet. Den egna produktionen av läkemedel och medicintekniska produkter och tjänster står man själv för 4/5 av kvantiteten men enbart 1/5 av värdet, vilket betyder att man massproducerar de billigare varorna medan man importerar de dyrare från utlandet. Det mesta av importen är från EU, men fördelat på land är Kina, Tyskland och USA de största exportörerna till Ryssland.  Det finns enorma behov för eHälsa i Ryssland, särskilt de mindre befolkade delarna, men man ligger efter i utvecklingen och nödvändig IT-infrastruktur saknas, och lagstiftningen har länge varit eftersatt på området (precis som i resten av världen). Spännande nog räknar man med att till 2025 ha fått fram en e-hälsoinfrastruktur på federal och regional nivå. Ett perfekt läge att utvärdera vår egen eHälsovision och jämföra helt enkelt!

Beträffande sanktionerna mot Ryssland som såklart är en hetpotatis i diskussioner, så gäller de främst inom vapen och-oljesektorerna och har ingen inverkan på hälsovårdssektorns import-och export. Rysslands motsanktioner har främst varit mot livsmedelsimport från EU och USA. Importsubstitueringen har däremot slagit mot flertalet bruncher, där man i första hand på federala och regionala inköp främst ska handla inhemskt. Dock med de undantag som finns för unika produkter och om produktionen och tjänsten har en del i värdekedjan i landet så påverkas man inte av importsubstitueringen i så hög grad som det ofta uttrycks. Lokaliseringen är definitivt en drivkraft även inom privata sektorn, men inget formellt hinder finns.  Vid lokaliserings situationen kommer även utländska ägare behandlas som en inhemsk då man ser positivt på investeringar i landet. Medicinsk teknik är vid sidan av bilindustrin påverkad av lokaliserings driv, men ju mer högteknologisk lösningen är desto större driv för att importera utifrån, vilket är positivt för vissa svenska företag men kan vara ett hinder för andra.

Sammanfattningsvis, så är behoven på svenska lösningar stort, men det finns även hinder såsom importsubstituering, lokalisering, bristande infrastruktur och endemisk korruption. Vi var dock överens om att marknaden är för stor och nära för att ignorera.

До свида́ния!