With the success of the recently held 43rd World Hospital Congress hosted by the Ministry of Health, Sultanate of Oman, this issue focuses on the Middle East and the issues the region is facing.

IHF organized its annual Study Tour for hospital and health executives in Paris, from 16 to 20 September. 16 health executives from nine countries had the chance to listen to more than 25 experts, on the topic of health innovation and neighborhood. This document presents the highlights and main lessons learned during these five enriching days and will allow you to grasp some of the main challenges and opportunities that the French Health System is facing. You will also find this document and the speakers’ presentations on the IHF Website.

This guideline is to present recommendations based on a critical evaluation of the evidence on emerging digital health interventions that are contributing to health system improvements, based on an assessment of the benefits, harms, acceptability, feasibility, resource use and equity considerations.

It also urges readers to recognize that digital health interventions are not a substitute for functioning health systems, and that there are significant limitations to what digital health is able to address.

The IHF and La Unió Catalana d’Hospitals are inviting health leaders and professionals to submit abstracts for an opportunity to showcase their best practices, innovations, projects, programs and researches to the international healthcare community. The 44th edition of the Congress will be held in Barcelona, Spain on 3-5 November 2020.

The Philippine Hospital Association has always been guided by its mission statement, Lead, Enable, Assist and Protect (LEAP) hospitals towards quality service.

With the ever-increasing demands for participation and involvement of the PHA in the various activities and concerns of the concerned government agencies and other Non-Government Organizations., the need for more empowerment of its PHA Chapters nation-wide have become a necessity. This, to better cope and awaken the voice of the silent majority, especially on legislative issues affecting healthcare operation.

For the ensuing year, the PHA intends to establish a new Committee whose function shall be to tango to the sound of the soon to be implemented Universal Healthcare Act and ensure that no hospital members are unduly disadvantaged by any differences in interpretations in its implementations by the Local Government Units in the numerous provinces and cities in the Philippines.

The Philippine's Department of Health (DOH) holds the over-all technical authority on health. It is the country's national health policy-maker and regulatory institution. It is mandated to develop national plans, technical standards, and guidelines on health. Aside from being the regulator of all health services and products, the DOH is the provider of special tertiary health care services and technical assistance to health providers and stakeholders.

A significant DOH agency supports the attainment of its mandate to take good care of the healthcare of the population. The National Health Insurance Program was established and created the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PHIC) to provide health insurance coverage and ensure affordable, acceptable, available and accessible health care services for all citizens of the Philippines. It serves as the means for the healthy to help pay for the care of the sick and for those who can afford medical care to subsidize those who cannot. Through the years, it has expanded progressively and presently, with the passage early 2019 of the Universal Healthcare Law, now plays a significant role, along with the Local Government Units (province-wide and city-wide), in providing accessible, affordable and worry-free healthcare for the entire population.

L.E.A.P. – the acronym for Lead, Enable, Assist and Protect. LEAP is a powerful word that encapsulates the brand that propels the leadership and general membership of the Philippine Hospital Association (PHA) as it navigates the wide universe of healthcare.

The PHA is a 70-year old organization of healthcare providers from the government and private sectors in the 7,107 islands of the Philippines. It is composed of nearly 2,000 hospitals. A not for profit and non-stock entity, its views and voices are much sought after and enjoy the recognition of the various agencies of the government as well as the lawmaking bodies of the land from both the Congress and the Senate.

At the moment, in its Platinum Year, I sit as the organization’s 13th President. Certainly, it gives me much pride to be part of the important page in the history book of the organization.