NSW and Israel have signed a Declaration of Intent to promote bilateral cooperation in health and medicine
Susan Pearce, Acting Secretary, New South Wales Health and Mark Sofer, Israel’s Ambassador to Australia, have signed a Declaration of Intent between the New South Wales Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Health of the State of Israel to promote bilateral cooperation between the two parties in health and medicine.
Ambassador Mark Sofer and Minister Susan Pearce
The declaration encourages cooperation and collaboration in a range of areas including, but not limited to, medical research, healthcare operating models and digital health and innovation.
The signing of the declaration precedes a Healthcare Innovation Trade Mission organised by the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce that leaves for Israel next week. The trade mission will explore innovation in healthcare, and the role of innovative technology in delivering better, more affordable patient care at home, within community and in hospitals, with a particular focus on digital health.The program will also examine future directions for medicine and patient health care.
The mission’s program includes meetings with prominent digital health and innovation policy experts, major Israeli hospitals (including their innovation and R&D centres), cutting edge digital health and medtech start-ups, life science and healthcare venture capitalists, and leaders from the HMO, private insurance and community healthcare sector.
Israel’s ambassador to Australia Mark Sofer told J-Wire: “This is yet another major milestone in the burgeoning relations between Israel and New South Wales, which provides the perfect foundation for the upcoming visit of Premier Berejiklian to Israel next year.”
Michelle Blum, Suan Pearce Ambassador Mark Sofer and Gillian Segal
Michelle Blum, CEO of The Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (NSW) said: “We are extremely excited about strengthening the relationship between our two nations in the healthcare and innovation space, and the opportunities that will undoubtedly arise as a result of the signing of this agreement and the participation of so many prominent Australian healthcare leaders in this Trade Mission to Israel.”
Israel is a renowned leader in the digital health sector, with a sophisticated digitised health system and a thriving health tech ecosystem. Israel is said to have the highest number of hospital-sponsored innovation centres or healthcare accelerators per capita in the world. There are 30 multinationals running digital health R&D centres in Israel including GE Healthcare, Philips Healthcare, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft and IBM Research. There are more than 25 Israeli healthcare companies listed on the NASDAQ. The introduction of the Israeli government’s $US300 million National Digital Health Plan, which aims to support tech start-ups active in the digital health space, will only further propel the industry.
A spokesperson for the Israeli embassy told J-Wire: “Particular areas of focus in the Declaration are innovation, technology, and research and development. The Declaration also embodies a commitment to facilitate exchange visits between relevant specialists.
We’re hoping that this Declaration can provide further opportunities for collaboration and allow further sharing of knowledge and expertise between our country and the state of New South Wales.”
