Deloitte launches Future of Heath 1.0 for China at CIIE with exclusive insights from globally renowned respiratory expert Dr. Zhong Nanshan

Published: 6 November 2020

On 6 November in Shanghai, Deloitte China's Life Sciences & Health Care (LSHC) team hosted a mini-forum at the 3rd China International Import Expo.

Deloitte China LSHC Leader Jens Ewert and Consulting Director David Xie were joined at the mini-forum by world-renowned respiratory expert Dr. Zhong Nanshan, who delivered a video speech, where they explored the evolution of healthcare in China and globally, the driving forces set to reshape the sector landscape in the post COVID-19 era, and how enterprises can seize market opportunities.

In their presentations at the event, Jens Ewert and David Xie explored how COVID-19 is accelerating changes in healthcare provision and how the future of health, shaped by the pandemic, will look.

"Globally, we anticipate exponential technological advances over the next 20 years to hasten the pace of disruption, driven by nanotechnology, quantum computing, robotics, biomedical engineering, AI, cheaper data storage, increased connectivity, augmented reality and 3D printing," says Ewert. "Consumers, meanwhile, are becoming more focused on wellbeing and demanding more customized products, which we expect will facilitate 10 key business archetypes to drive the transformation of health ecosystem across three dimensions – data plus platform, wellbeing plus care delivery, and care enablement."

Addressing China's situation, Xie noted four large gaps to bridge in China's current healthcare sector – an increased prevalence of chronic, oncological and immunological diseases among the country's aging population, rising demand for healthcare overall, a system that is too focused on treatment rather than health management, and talent shortages. He suggested COVID-19 has shifted people's focus to disease prevention and early treatment.

"The pandemic has also given online channels unprecedented significance in China's healthcare ecosystem, and we expect public and private big data enterprises, growth in genomics and next-generation therapies, tele and virtual medicines, increased AI and automation to be among eight main trends that will redefine the future of health in China."

"New technologies being rolled out, facilitated by large nationwide investment programs, will impact health care, how services are delivered, how products are brought to market, and ultimately benefit patients in China," adds Ewert.

According to Dr. Zhong, China's experience with COVID-19 has made it clear that early prevention, diagnosis and treatment are keys to developing the ambitions of Healthy China, a national action plan to prevent disease and promote health.

Technology will be central to this process, according to Dr. Zhong, "Demand for big data, AI, and the Internet, cloud platforms and 5G will increase significantly. AI systems can be used to detect patients' lung lesions. We can use AI to predict the state of lung disease. 5G plays a very important role in remote HD consultation, because some consultations require very detailed pictures. Remote surgical teaching requires 5G support, and remote first aid can be directly controlled [using 5G]."

Dr. Zhong also heralded China's advance to a Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO) model. This integrates drug development from pre-clinical and clinical trials to commercial production, enterprise R&D, procurement, and production, and has contributed to China's ability to quickly develop COVID-19 vaccines.

At the mini-forum, Deloitte launched health technology asset ConvergeHEALTH in China, which uses digital and big data analytics to assist life sciences and health care organizations build consumer-centric healthcare ecosystems. The success of the mini-forum demonstrate Deloitte's innovative practices and thought leaderships in China's health industry. Deloitte will continue to help industry companies and organizations enhance their resilience, drive industry transformation, and lead the sector's development.