By Wu Siya

 

BEIJING, July. 19 (China Economic Net) – Global experts on Thursday stressed the necessity of increased data exchange and cooperation worldwide to deal with growing risks and challenges in the field of healthcare, despite recent progress. A series of launching ceremony, including the Global Healthcare Innovation Centre and Sino-British Drosophila Model Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment Personalized Medical Technology Platform, was held, aiming to improve the quality of medical solutions worldwide through digital tools.

 

The centre will create a platform for medical experts to share their insights and experiences globally, promote cooperation between cross-border medical institutions, technology companies, regulatory agencies and scientific researchers, thus launch more innovative projects.

 

 

Top experts exchanged such insightful remarks at the 3rd conference of the Global Health Forum of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA), which held from July 16 to 18.

 

 

Rahul Agarwal, Counsellor for Life Sciences & Healthcare at the British Embassy Beijing, briefly introduced bilateral cooperation in related fields, including the cooperation between a series Shanghai companies and British companies in using AI to diagnose and treat Parkinson's disease; the cooperation between the Beijing Medical Consortium and the UK to study solutions to many geriatric diseases and related disability problems; and a number of Sino-British joint ventures that have been established in the Health Industry Park of Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BETDA).

 

"As Mr. Agarwal mentioned, the UK's Biobank sample library is a world leader, and China is renowned for its huge market size, high-speed technological iteration and innovative business models. Our collaboration in data-driven healthcare will undoubtedly produce huge synergy effects," emphasized Liu Juncai, director of the Beijing Municipal Health Commission.

 

In order to jointly develop solutions to global public health challenges, a long-term partnership should be established. At the technical level, joint research and development and application of cutting-edge technologies such as big data, AI and blockchain should be strengthened, Liu added.

 

In the process of medical data circulation, data security and other issues also cannot be ignored, including fair use of data, avoidance of algorithmic bias, and privacy protection of vulnerable groups. In the next step, Beijing will carry out cross-border data negative list management within the free trade zone, support the cross-border facilitation of data flow between pharmaceutical companies and medical institutions, and lay the foundation for real-time settlement of international commercial medical insurance.

 

Daniel Brooker, Director at UK Research and Innovation (China), shared the fruitful cooperation results of the two countries in past 17 years in China, including the establishment of elderly health centers in Beijing and the UK respectively, and the international epidemic prevention and control project launched last year.

 

Regarding the future of digital medical cooperation, Dong Jiahong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, hopes to promote the application of digital technology in surgery through the sharing and complementarity of resources between the two countries, that is, combining the advantages of original research in the UK with the richer experience of Chinese surgeons due to the scale of their treatment and advanced digital technology.

 

"AI-assisted decision-making allows doctors to make more accurate judgments and reduce misdiagnosis rates, while advanced surgical equipment that integrates man and machine, such as surgical robots with intelligent judgment and flexible robotic arms that can perform precise operations in narrow spaces and natural orifice, could improve the accuracy and controllability of surgical operations."