• Exhibition concludes with 105,000 attendees confirmed over three days
• Winner of prestigious Vision NextGen startup competition revealed as X-Genome, an innovative biotech business focused on education
• Latest deals and MoUs announced on site totalling USD 13.3bn – including a cooperation agreement between the Health Holding Company and Huawei and a partnership between the Council of Health Insurance and the Johns Hopkins Center
• Leaders’ Summit presented a visionary look at the state of global healthcare in 2040 – including the emergence of advanced robotics and AI as central to mainstream healthcare delivery
• Focus on women’s health saw leading experts discuss increasing the value healthcare services bring to women in multiple countries, with themes of technology, mental health and accessibility to services

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, Oct. 24, 2024 — The final day of Global Health Exhibition highlighted the next generation of health technology innovators, with the announcement of X-Genome, a local biotech business, as the winner of the Vision NextGen competition. The event concluded with a series of Memorandums of Understanding (MoU) signings and a focus on the future of women’s health.  

X-Genome is the first genomics training facility for health and scientific professionals in Saudi Arabia, providing world-class educational programs in molecular genetics and cancer cell diseases. Its aim is to equip a new generation of professionals with the skills necessary to support patients with future technology. 

The third day saw the establishment of new MoUs, partnerships, and deals totaling USD 13.3bn. These included a cooperation agreement between the Saudi State-owned Health Holding Company and Huawei, as well as a partnership agreement between the Council of Health Insurance and the Johns Hopkins Center.

MoUs were also signed between the Saudi Arabia Ministry of Health and Ascend Solutions, AlRamz Medical Company, and GSK.

The three-day Global Health Exhibition saw an attendance of over 105,000, representing 35,000 people per day. International attendance saw a 72 percent increase from over 138 countries. The Exhibition featured 1,240 exhibiting brands, four times more than last year, with over fifty percent of those brands being international.

The future of women’s healthcare was also a highlight on the third day, under the heading ‘Wellness and Beyond’. Sessions explored the underrepresentation of women in clinical studies and research, as well as significant gaps in access to screening for certain cancers. The growing global challenge of redesigning health systems to meet the mental health needs of women and the role of emerging technologies in achieving this was also discussed.

“In disease prevention for women, there is not enough being done to provide cancer screening,” said Dr Ritu Garg, Chief Growth & Innovation Officer, Fortis Healthcare. 

“We are seeing an explosion in cancer cases worldwide. Beyond this, mental health issues are likely to reach epidemic proportions in the coming years. We require scalable, technology-driven solutions to meet this challenge.”

Looking ahead, the Leaders’ Summit considered the state of healthcare services in 2040 and how recognized health challenges today are projected to grow exponentially.

“We are looking at a world with five billion chronic disease patients in 2040, from a global population of eight billion,” said Reenita Das, Partner, Senior Vice President, Healthcare & Life Sciences, Frost & Sullivan.

“In the connected age, what’s needed are personalized digital tools, which support what I term the ‘IKEA-ization of healthcare’. This means, a world where every individual becomes the CEO of his or her health to manage their own wellbeing, utilizing apps and wearables – turning patients into consumers.

“We are on the road to curing cancer, in the same way that we have collectively all but eradicated HIV, but other threats remain on the horizon, including new infectious diseases and ‘super bugs’, which will continue to proliferate around the world. Advanced technology has a role to play here too, with AI becoming ubiquitous.”

The Digital Health Forum included a panel on harnessing the power of digitized data for enhanced patient care.

“In 2024, a live-stream connected King Faisal Hospital with 600 cardiac surgeons at 300 hospitals virtually, as I performed complex robotic procedures,” said Prof Feras Khaliel, Consultant, Cardiac Surgery, King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center.

“It was an educational tool. Surgeons were not only observing but in constant communication to ask questions. We have made advances, not only in diagnosis and treatments, but in 3D monitoring for the patient during surgery.”

Global Health Exhibition Foundation Partner Lean also commented on the event:

“Lean is thrilled to be part of Saudi Arabia’s groundbreaking journey in innovation towards a healthier nation,” said Hisham Al-Falih, Co-founder and CEO, Lean. “We’re excited to share how our cutting-edge solutions are reshaping healthcare, easing access to and powering a healthier, tech-driven future for the Kingdom.”

“Cultivating the next generation of healthcare talent is a defining goal of Global Health Exhibition, and the exceptional skill and ability shown across the high number of entries to the Vision NextGen competition gives us confidence we are in safe hands,” said Rachel Sturgess, Group Director, Tahaluf.

“Global Health Exhibition 2024 featured 1,240 exhibiting brands, four times more than last year, with more than fifty percent of those brands being international. The show has doubled in size, to 80,000 square meters, the size of 11 football fields.”