Wednesday June 25th, a new national strategy for future development and research in the Norwegian healthcare sector was handed over to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health and Care Services at a meeting at Oslo University Hospital.
The strategy, called HelseOmsorg21, aims to identify and prioritize areas within the healthcare sector, and is the most comprehensive initiative in this area ever to surface within the Norwegian health care sector.
Leading actors from the business sector, patient associations, hospitals, municipalities and the university sector have taken part in and support the recommendations in the report.
CEO at Oslo Medtech, Kathrine Myhre, is a member of a forum of senior executives that have met for discussions parallel to the groups working with the strategy itself. She is confident that the strategy has established arenas where actors in the Norwegian health care sector, including businesses developing new products, can work together.
– It makes me very happy to hear the Prime Minister and the Minister of Health underline the importance of having a strong knowledge intensive business community in the work towards solving the challenges of our health care sector.
– We advice that the report´s conclusions are implemented, and will of course be at the disposal of the government in the process ahead, says Myhre.
Both Myhre and innovator/business founder Eirik Næss-Ulseth (also a board member of Oslo Medtech) underlines the significance of the fact that the report establishes a platform for cooperation between health care institutions and businesses.
– Covering new needs in the field of health will be based on close collaboration with the commercial side in order to develop and pilot new solutions leading to future procurements. The realization of this ambition should not be too hard. It is to a great extent about attitude and courage. The effect can be significant for the business community, says Næss-Ulseth, himself a member of the strategy group of HO21 (HelseOmsorg21).
The process leading up to today´s hand-over was started by the former Minister of Health and Care Services in 2013