Carlos Slim Foundation participates in the 2019 Mobile World Congress

In the framework of the inauguration of 2019 Mobile World Congress which took place in Barcelona, Spain, the Carlos Slim Foundation participated in the panel Redefining Inclusion, where the role of Digital Health was highlighted and the role of mobile devices to reduce the digital gap was analyzed.

During his talk, Dr. Roberto Tapia-Conyer, General Director of the Carlos Slim Foundation, indicated that the challenge is to ensure inclusion in providing services that guarantee equity and social development: “Inclusion means healthcare for everyone. That is, to be able to provide high quality healthcare, incorporating the latest scientific advances, regardless of socioeconomic status and condition”.

The idea is to go beyond a technological platform, gadget or medical device. It is to talk about how we incorporate these technologies in an ecosystem of Public Health with impact on people’s daily lives, through sustainable public policies, he emphasized.

He also stressed the importance of Digital Health from a preventive perspective which helps perform instant diagnoses for feedback to the patient.

According to GSMA Intelligence, for 2025 there will be six billion people with a mobile phone; a billion more than today. This increase does not necessarily imply a reduction in the digital and social gap, and for that reason the analysis by the panel Redefining Inclusion included the participation of experts on the topic, such as Ann Cairns, Vice President of MasterCard and Kelly T. Clements, the U.N. Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees.

Finally, the panelists agreed on the need to evolve the current paradigm which only seeks to provide connectivity and to take it to the next level, which is the sum of:

  • Connectivity
  • Digital platforms
  • In situ processing
  • Qualified personnel

Tomorrow, Tuesday the 26th, Dr. Roberto Tapia-Conyer will participate in the round table on Digital Health and Wednesday, the 27th he will participate in the panel Unlocking the Value of Data in Healthcare, where he will speak about the GSMA report on CASALUD: A suite of digital health services for the prevention and management of NCDs