Healthcare Week Luxembourg Explores Future of Health

Healthcare Week Luxembourg (HWL) is back for a second edition on Tuesday 1 and Wednesday 2 October 2024 at Luxexpo The Box in Luxembourg-Kirchberg.

Primarily aimed at healthcare professionals from the Greater Region, this exhibition, designed as a cross-border and European platform for exchange, intends to tackle the challenges and issues facing the sector with a varied programme. This year it explores the theme of "The future of health: added value for all". 

As presented by the organisers, HWL aims to develop the cooperation between players in the sector in Luxembourg and its neighbours in France,Germany and Belgium. As an incubator for ideas, partnerships and innovation, the event aims to help shape a stronger and more resilient healthcare ecosystem, provide a model for Europe, and attract the attention of leading European healthcare professionals, companies, investors and startups.

On site, visitors are able to discover the stands of around 100 exhibitors with a wide range of specialisations, but also to take part in the conferences, round tables and numerous debates. The exhibition consists of four sessions each day, covering two topics per day.

The morning topic on Tuesday was “Shifting the Healthcare Ecosystem Towards Personalised Medicine”. Dr Phillipe Turk, President of the Luxembourg Hospital Federation (Fédération des Hôpitaux Luxembourgeois - FHL), delivered the opening address in which he welcomed all guests, speakers, exhibitors and participants as well as thanking all those involved in the organisation of the event. Dr Turk outlined the two main aims behind the event, firstly to bring all the players in the health system together by broadening perspectives beyond patients, caregivers and doctors and secondly to provide the opportunity to discuss the similar challenges within the health systems of Europe and to reflect on common projects.

In line with the morning’s topic, he spoke of the challenges facing the health sector in the face of increasing technological advances, and the risk of suppressing the search for innovation as a result of the regulatory framework around the use of personal data. He acknowledged the importance of technology in healthcare systems awhile emphasising the need to make the correct technological choices for the benefit of patients and healthcare providers. He concluded by expressing the desire that HWL will be a catalyst for shared transnational projects in the service of the health of the future of Europe.

Dr Turk’s address was followed by Martine Deprez, Luxembourg’s Minister of Health and Social Security, who discussed “Towards an Integrated and Resilient Health System: Combining Quality, Value and Patient-Centred Care”. The minister spoke of the common goals of all health systems; health improvement for the entire population, patient centred care and dealing with changes within health systems. She also spoke of the challenges facing health systems, mentioning the ageing population, staff shortages, the increasing number of people suffering from chronic illnesses and the technological evolution.

However, she emphasised the opportunities available to increase the quality of life and the degree of coordination and integration of care, for example through common networks. Advances in precision medicine will enable the development of increasingly personalised medicine while the development of digital technologies can place the patient at the centre of their own care journey. Artificial intelligence will improve risk prevention, medical diagnosis and assistance in making therapeutic decisions, she added.

The minister also spoke of the creation of a European health data space which will accelerate the deployment of digital health solutions in Luxembourg and beyond.
She concluded by talking of the opportunity HWL offers for exchanges and social learning to allow for the development of an integrated and resilient system intended to adhere to quality, value and care that is centred on the patient who will be an active partner in this system.

Maurice Bauer, First Alderman of the City of Luxembourg, then took to the floor. Mr Bauer spoke of the interesting aspect of multilingualism in a country with 169 different nationalities and the communication difficulties that can therefore arise. This may be a small aspect of patient care but it is one that concerns many people.

Bogi Eliasen, Director of Health at the Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, joined the event as a keynote speaker. His speech introduced the theme of this second edition of HWL: “Tomorrow's Health: Placing Value Creation at the Heart of the System”. Mr Eliasen’s speech emphasised the need to change the way we think: technology is a tool but should never become the focus. Climate effects of health systems must be addressed as these are among the biggest polluters in the world. Healthcare must also consider the sustainability of planetary health. The health system is focused on fast reaction for example on common illnesses, accidents and violence whereas 85% of illnesses are chronic, requiring a slow reaction.

However, 30% of chronic illnesses are preventable if we apply technology and data at the right moment with the right precision. The focus should be on prevention and on the prevention of secondary diseases associated with these chronic illnesses. Data must be provided on illnesses in order to move forward and work towards targets. However, data tends to be used to make the system more efficient rather than focusing on the person. Data is being protected but to protect the person that data must be applied.

He added that health is the most important societal pillar. All efforts should be aligned towards prevention of primary and secondary diseases. The dignity of the person needs to be a fundamental driver in society when health decisions are made. Privacy policies should not result in data being protected instead of people being helped. A sustainable approach is required to bridge the gap between individual care and the well-being of society. Dr Turk concluded Tuesday’s first session by inviting participants to view the exhibits.

Another participant was Christof von Kalle, a physician-scientist in clinical research, stem-cell research, mutation analysis and gene transfer who heads the Clinical Study Centre of the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) at Charité. He introduced Tuesday’s Session 2 with a presentation entitled “Evolving the healthcare system towards personalised medicine”.

The afternoon topic on  Tuesday was “ Technology and AI to innovate and create value”.

The topics covered on Wednesday include: “Towards Systemic Health Integration: Governance Challenges and Strategies” in the morning, followed by “Health Education and Research in the Greater Region: Our Challenges and Perspectives for the Future” in the afternoon.

In addition to speeches and round table events, the two conference days will include the presentation of the HWL Awards 2024, rewarding four winners in four categories: Medical Research Awards, Innovation in Hospital Management Awards, Start-up Awards - Greater Region, and Start-up Awards - Luxembourg. Selected by a panel of experts, the finalists were invited to pitch their projects to an expert panel on the first day of the conference. 

For details of this ongoing event, see https://www.hwl.lu/hwl/.