A Desert Story
The moment you get an invitation to an event you have never heard of before, already kicks off the journey. Having the honour of delivering one of the prestigious Majlis Mohammad Bin Zayed lectures in Abu Dhabi was one of those moments.
I have never been to Abu Dhabi, even though I have had the pleasure of speaking about health, healthcare, and medicine in many other places in the Gulf region before. In fact, one of my first lectures abroad was in Dubai, which, due to the absence of patients and healthcare professionals at the conference, made me create the #patientsincluded charter.
Of course, I accepted the invitation, thrilled to share my vision with this high-level governmental and professional audience and to have the opportunity to visit the capital of the UAE. What followed was a high-standing preparation with representatives of the Abu Dhabi President's Office, and a journey for me to craft a tailored lecture that could resonate with that particular audience.
Knowing and learning about the progress made in the past years in that region, one could only be humble in sharing about things they could improve. However, technology is high-paced, and change in healthcare is often difficult and takes time. As in many places, the focus is often on the healthcare (delivery) system, while my vision is to invest more in health itself, which became the core point of my lecture.
Before the lecture, I had the honour of having a private tour of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, during which I tried to capture its beauty, and some of the other venues in some of my Abu Dhabi photos in my portfolio.
