HealthTech
During the virtual mission you will learn more about the developments and opportunities regarding HealthTech. The focus is mainly on the use of ICT in healthcare, i.e. data management, remote care and AI & robotics.
You will also get an good idea about projects in which parties want to cooperate internationally. Through online matchmaking you come into contact with local companies and institutions that are active in this sector.
For whom?
The mission is only open to companies and knowledge institutions that are active in the following subsectors:
• Knowledge management of health data
• Telemedicine
• AI and robotics in healthcare
HealthTech and South Africa
South Africa is very innovative in the field of healthcare. Consider, for example, the first heart transplant in 1967 that took place successfully in South Africa. This innovative approach continues today. Although health care is delivered along two separate lines, namely the public and private sectors, the quality of health care in the private sector, as well as in certain academic hospitals, is of a very high quality. The main private healthcare groups in South Africa are considered to be leading players in various international fields.
Globally, healthcare is believed to be at least 10 years behind other industries in the use of technology. South Africa is also lagging behind the curve when it comes to technology acceptance in healthcare. These facts together indicate that the South African healthcare technology market has significant opportunities and growth potential.
There is a strong dynamic driving that stimulates the growth in the health technology market worldwide and in South Africa. Although conservative cultures may mean that changes are not proactively initiated by providers, these providers will however come to act under pressure from patients. In both the public and private sectors, there is great pressure to reduce costs, while at the same time it is recognized that health care procurement needs to be more value-based, with a much stronger focus on health outcomes.
Challenges and Opportunities
A recent survey by the Dutch Embassy in South Africa has identified a number of opportunities for collaboration in the field of health tech
The market for knowledge management in healthcare seems to be potentially very large with respect to electronic data collection and the urgent need to move away from paper-based systems. This need has long been recognized in both the public and private sectors. In the private sector, a number of private hospitals use these technologies and want to develop them further, or are rolling out programs. The public sector has had a national strategy for electronic health records since 2012.
In addition, there is a growing market for telemedicine and virtual healthcare. This is driven by several trends, including: a shortage of health workers, especially in semi-urban and rural areas; the need for better access to healthcare information, both for medical staff and for patients; and an increase in the occurrence of chronic conditions with complicated care and the need for greater coordination.
Finally, there are also opportunities in South Africa for the use of AI and robotics in healthcare, in line with global developments. In South Africa, most of these technologies mainly find their way to the private sector due to their significant cost. At the same time, there is public sector interest in a number of technologies, which either reduce costs or help solve problems that are particularly acute. Examples are the challenges of services in rural areas. The large private hospitals in South Africa already apply high-tech surgical robotics and are open to new initiatives.
