Hospitals and health service providers only have about 3 weeks left to nominate their outstanding projects and programs to the IHF Awards. Winners will be revealed during the 43rd IHF World Hospital Congress in November. Gold awardees will gain exposure through IHF channels and healthcare media network, have a chance to publish their work in the IHF Journal, be considered for the IHF Webinars, and receive monetary prize to attend and present at the Congress.

You can submit entries for the following:

• IHF/Dr Kwang Tae Kim Grand Award (open only to IHF members and their affiliates)
• ​​​​​​​IHF/Bionexo Excellence Award for Corporate Social Responsibility
• IHF/EOH Excellence Award for Leadership and Management in Healthcare
• IHF/Austco Excellence Award for Quality & Safety and Patient-centered Care.​​​​​​​

Don’t miss this opportunity, start preparing your entries now! For more information on the categories, eligibility, prizes and selection process, click the button below.

Standardized, replicable and comparable metrics for quality of medical care in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are lacking. A recent study conducted by Diego Rios-Zertuche et al. in several Latin American countries addresses this gap and presents a framework to identify variations on quality of care, based on quality indicators constructed for maternal, neonatal and child care. The study underscores that collecting data for quality indicators at scale in LMICs is now possible with adequate resources and technical expertise.

Many governments in sub-Saharan Africa are seeking to establish public–private partnerships (PPPs) for the financing and operation of new healthcare facilities and services. This paper seeks to inform debates about the use of PPPs in the region by describing the planning and operation of a high-profile case in Lesotho. It highlights several beneficial impacts of the transaction alongside a range of key challenges. Mark Hellowell suggests that future proposals for PPPs need to be exposed to more effective scrutiny and challenge, taking into account state capacity to proficiently manage and pay for contracted services.

Health and social care systems, organisations and providers are under pressure to organise care around patients’ needs with constrained resources. Therefore, barriers must be addressed to implement patient-centred care (PCC) successfully. This study conducted by Kira I. Hower et al. examines the determinants of PCC implementation from decision makers’ perspectives and emphasizes the crucial role of several determinants at the organisational inner setting and the individual level. The results provide possible starting points for initiating the tailoring of interventions and implementation strategies towards more patient-centredness.

According to a recent report by WHO and UNICEF, one in four health care facilities around the world lacks basic water services, impacting over 2 billion people. Moreover, one in five health care facilities has no sanitation service. These services are crucial to preventing infections, reducing the spread of antimicrobial resistance and providing quality care, particularly for safe childbirth. At the 2019 World Health Assembly to be held in May, governments will debate a resolution on Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Health Care Facilities which was unanimously approved by the WHO Executive Board earlier this year.

The IHF has been invited to participate in the Future of Health Summit, held earlier in April in Slovakia. It was attended by healthcare industry stakeholders including European regulators, Pharmaceutical and Biotech executives, Healthcare providers, Patients groups and Novel Technology providers. The conference looked at how digital healthcare, AI and big data are driving the healthcare transformation and identified three distinct streams: Digital Healthcare, Digital Health in Pharma and Pharmacovigilance, Project Portfolio Management. 
View the conference report and the presentation made by IHF in the session Fostering Investment in Private Healthcare; a Multistakeholders' vision.

Unicancer unites the French Comprehensive Cancer Centres (FCCCs), private non-profit health institutions specializing in oncology. Unicancer facilitates the pooling of resources and skills between FCCCs and runs benchmarking. Unicancer's mission is to help FCCCs access latest innovation for the benefit of their patients. It also advocates for FCCCs with public authorities and focuses on promoting the FCCCs' organization model in cancer care. 
Unicancer conducts prospective studies to better identify the future of cancer care, the patient needs and the innovations to come, and supports clinical research in oncology in France and abroad.
More details on the prospective studies are provided in the full bulletin below.

The French National Cancer Institute (INCa), bringing together relevant actors of the sector, is in charge of cancer control. It aims at reducing the incidence of avoidable cancers and the number of cancer deaths, improving the quality of life of people with cancer during and after their illness, and reducing inequalities related to cancer. Its approach encompasses all cancer-control dimensions and areas of intervention for the benefit of patients and their relatives. The Institute is responsible for rolling out the 2014-2019 Cancer Plan. ​​​​​​​The Plan aims at curing more patients and ensuring access equity to quality medicine and innovation. It also deals with comprehensive patient care, reduction of cancer deaths and fight against cancer.

Pascale Flamant has been Unicancer CEO since 2011. Unicancer is the only hospital network fully devoted to fighting cancer. Cancer treatment is confronted to the cost of innovative medicine such as access to new treatments and equipment in oncology. Also artificial intelligence role will be more prominent in health care delivery. Both concerns are observed in every countries worldwide. 
At IHF, Unicancer can learn about good practices and be more visible on the international scene. In the next five years they expect IHF to weigh more on the international stage on public health issues, to facilitate co-operation among members and strengthen their management, and to collaborate with patient representative associations.

FHF represents almost all the French public healthcare sector. It promotes public hospitals and social care public institutions through a major annual event, the Paris Healthcare Week, it trains healthcare professionals and organizes  campaigns public hospitals and hospital staff. Healthcare professionals receive advice from FHF on daily practical issues they face. Finally, FHF partners with public authorities to elaborate proposals and assist the implementation of reforms in the hospital sector. 

​​​​​​​More information on FHF and the French healthcare system in the full bulletin below.