World Health Organization to address pandemic at Collision conference

The World Health Organization (WHO) will discuss the COVID-19 pandemic at Collision from Home, one of the largest tech conferences now taking place online.

The WHO’s Director-General, Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, will be asked about the pandemic offering a “unique viewpoint” of the global organization’s “overarching access to the frontline.”

“We’re incredibly humbled to welcome Dr. Tedros Adhanom, one of the most important people in the world right now, to Collision from Home. This global pandemic has created a warlike scenario where the health industry is in an arms race, except the arms are not weapons – they are medical advancements that will save lives, such as tracking systems for contact tracing, and super fast testing,” said Paddy Cosgrave, founder and CEO of Collision from Home.

“We are desperate to return to any kind of ‘normal’ and, now more than ever, we are relying on everyone in the field, from world leaders in medicine to the nurses on the frontline. I believe the tech advancements we’ll make over the next year and into 2021 will be incredible, and change the way healthcare is run forever.”

• See also: 
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  • The first vaccine trial for coronavirus has begun: WHO

Due to the global health crisis, event organizers are putting the focus on health tech for their first-ever online event.

It will bring together startups, academics, medics and investors from the field, such as Patrice Harris, president of the American Medical Association; Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis; Leana Wen, visiting professor of health policy and management of George Washington University; Dorry Segev, professor of surgery and epidemiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine; and David Kopp, CEO at Healthline Media.

“These industry leaders will shine a light on how tech is addressing and accelerating solutions to the global pandemic,” the release said.

One of the health tech startups that will speak at Collision from Home, Everlywell, has ​secured authorization from the FDA​ to launch self-administered, at-home coronavirus diagnostic kits.

Collision at Home takes place virtually from June 23 to 25, 2020 and the tech conference says it will return to Toronto as a physical event from June 21 to 24, 2021, at the Enercare Centre.