KIGALI, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Healthcare experts on Thursday sought more innovations in healthcare delivery to address the most pressing global health challenges.
They were speaking at the opening of the World Healthcare Students Symposium 2017 in the Rwandan capital, Kigali.
The five-day conference, which runs through Monday, provides a unique platform for delegates to debate and come up with collaborative and innovative solutions to the world's most pressing health challenges, organizers say.
"Innovation is critical in every aspect of healthcare services. We need to come up with more innovations as we try to fit in today's fast-changing world," said Olushayo Olu, World Health Organization country representative for Rwanda.
As the world embraces technology innovations to solve health challenges, it may start exporting its models to grassroots in the developing world, Olu said.
The meeting has attracted about 3,000 delegates.
"We need more innovations in the healthcare delivery that would help primary healthcare centers in the developing world to diagnose and treat diseases without referring their patients to big hospitals," said U.S. healthcare expert Mary Foley.
She said with widely available innovation tools, a health worker can conduct a simple cancer screening and find appropriate treatment without unnecessary delays involved.
Global healthcare innovators should work together to generate new insights and innovative ideas into a more patient-focused and sustainable healthcare system across the globe, said Rwandan minister of education Papias Malimba Musafiri.
"Innovators should ensure other categories of healthcare innovations to be more powerful. This would also require strong local research centers and more tailored interventions," he said.
