Future of Medical Tourism - $40 billion a year industry, over 11 million people travelling to other nations for lower cost hospital treatments, health care, dentistry or cosmetic surgery. Organ trafficking. Medical tourism will grow to $130bn by 2025.

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

One way to reduce health costs for individuals, insurers or government is to move patients abroad for treatment, and we will see a lot more of this in a world beyond COVID.

‘Medical tourism’ is already a $40bn industry, growing 20% a year, with over 11 million people annually travelling to another country for private treatment, and possibly convalescence in a nice hotel.  The market could be worth over $130bn by 2025. 

The savings in all types of medical tourism can be huge: private health care in Brazil is only 25% of the cost in America, India 73%, Mexico 50%, Thailand 65%, Turkey 60%. Within the EU itself there are also major cost differences – for example, dental treatment in Hungary is far cheaper than in Paris.

Read more: Future of Medical Tourism - $40 billion a year industry, over 11 million people travelling to other nations for lower cost hospital treatments, health care, dentistry or cosmetic surgery. Organ trafficking. Medical tourism will grow to $130bn by 2025.

Future of Pharma beyond COVID - how COVID accelerated pharma innovation, drug discovery, clinical trials, safety testing, regulatory approvals, licensing - impact of COVID on future drug development and future health care. Pharma keynote speaker

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

COVID has forced acceleration in pharma drug discovery, innovation, clinical trials and regulatory approval / licencing as well as major changes in delivery of health care. What does this all mean for the future of pharma and health care?  Take for example the rapid growth of "virtual drug trials" - see below.

As a Physician as well as a Futurist I have worked with most of the largest pharma companies, helping them to understand the future.  I have warned for over two decades of global risks from new pandemics like COVID.

So what will be the Future of Pharma beyond COVID-19?

Here are notes on a recent Virtual keynote on the future of pharma.

Read more: Future of Pharma beyond COVID - how COVID accelerated pharma innovation, drug discovery, clinical trials, safety testing, regulatory approvals, licensing - impact of COVID on future drug development and future health care. Pharma keynote speaker

New therapies for COVID-19. Why treatments more important than COVID vaccines in longer term. Truth about global fight against new viruses

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

People often say to me that the answer to new viral pandemics is to develop vaccines.  This is clearly nonsense since it takes months to develop a vaccine, months more to test, years to vaccinate the world at vast cost, and the vaccine itself may not produce long term immunity, or may be overtaken by new mutations.

That is why for two decades now I have been warning of the need to develop next-generation antivirals.

We still don't have a single antiviral today that is as powerful and effective as penicillin was against bacteria when first discovered over 80 years ago.

But one benefit of vaccines is buying us time to learn about new viruses so we can reduce death rates with better therapy.

Research falls mainly into three areas: antivirals, immune modulators and drugs to prevent blood clotting.  Here are some examples - this area of medical research is growing at astonishing speed..

Read more: New therapies for COVID-19. Why treatments more important than COVID vaccines in longer term. Truth about global fight against new viruses

The TRUTH about COVID-19 mutations: variants in Brazil, India, Denmark, UK. Why better antivirals more important than vaccines. Why COVID spreading more slowly than expected, life beyond COVID-19 mutations- impact on business, public health, government

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

What is the truth about COVID-19 mutations in nations like UK and Denmark? Vaccine effectiveness in longer term, actual numbers of people in different nations who have already been exposed to Coronavirus and had very mild COVID-19 illness, possibly now immune as a result. 

I am writing as a physician and Futurist, as an advisor to many pharma companies, governments and other industries, and as someone who for over two decades has repeatedly warned of huge risks from new viral pandemics.

Statistics are very confusing.  Here are some important facts... (updated December 22nd 2020, November 11th 2020).

Read more: The TRUTH about COVID-19 mutations: variants in Brazil, India, Denmark, UK. Why better antivirals more important than vaccines. Why COVID spreading more slowly than expected, life beyond COVID-19 mutations- impact on business, public health, government

Why AIDS is still a major global threat - another mutant virus that jumped from animals to humans like COVID-19. 33 years ago, that mutant hijacked my medical practice as a cancer doctor looking after people dying at home. Led to global ACET Foundation

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

In 1987 my medical practice as a cancer doctor, looking after people dying at home in London, was hijacked and overwhelmed by a new mutant virus which had jumped from animals into humans, killing every person infected.  That virus has since killed over 40 million people, and we still have no vaccine after 35 years of research, nor any cure.

And now, with COVID-19, the kind of new pandemic I have often warned of, it feels like history is repeating.

I responded to the global crisis back then, after seeing people with HIV die really badly, often rejected by health care workers as well as by family and friends. I launched a national and international agency called ACET (AIDS Care Education and Training).  

This Foundation began in our family home, and within two years had become a national and international movement - which today has prevention and care programmes all over the world, in many of the hardest hit, most marginalised and remote communities - nations like Uganda, Nigeria, DR Congo, Zimbabwe, India, Thailand, Belarus, Ukraine, Czeck Republic, Slovakia - as well as UK and Republic of Ireland.

These programmes have delivered health promotion / education globally with total attendance in High School classes alone exceeding 7 million, tens of thousands receiving care - in their homes, in clinics and so on.  Other programme are reaching pregnant women, saving the lives of their babies, educating commercial sex workers, and helping drug users to life healthier lives, and so on.

Join my family in making a donation to ACET today.

Read more: Why AIDS is still a major global threat - another mutant virus that jumped from animals to humans like COVID-19. 33 years ago, that mutant hijacked my medical practice as a cancer doctor looking after people dying at home. Led to global ACET Foundation

I warned of pandemics like Coronavirus COVID-19 in 1998 and 2015 (books), and in hundreds of keynotes to multinationals, health agencies, NGOs, governments. I always say: "The world can change faster than you can call a board meeting - need for Agility".

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

Watch on #Periscope: Dr Patrick Dixon global Futurist - Q and A on current situation and next months / years https://t.co/IxEHj6OMV3

— Patrick Dixon - Futurist Keynote Speaker on FUTURE (@patrickdixon) March 18, 2020

I have warned repeatedly over the last 22 years in several books, at large numbers of corporate events, and in many global media broadcasts about new global threats from new mutant viruses, which we see emerging somewhere in the world once every 12 months on average.  

Most of these virus types do not spread far, often because so lethal that they kill faster than spread takes place. But that has meant governments have been complacent, neglecting to fund much-needed research into antiviral therapies. As a result we have nothing to offer at present to those who are sick or dying from Coronavirus COVID-19 except supportive measures.

As I often say to corporations: the world can change faster than you can hold a board meeting (and I don't just mean threats from viral pandemics).  The days of depending on only one Strategy are over.  Every company needs Plan B, C, D and E as well, and to be AGILE in leadership, able to respond very rapidly to major events in our hyper-connected world.

My 1998 warning:( Futurewise, published by Harper Collins)

"One consequence of the increasing population is a growing risk of global epidemics. We are already seeing rapidly changing viruses emerging in different parts of the world.  Every time a new persons is infected there is a small risk of a significant mutation. As the world population increases, so the risk of mutation increases. High mobility also encourages spread.  We have no medical protection against viral plague."

My 2015 warning: (The Future of Almost Everything, published by Profile Books)

Humankind is very vulnerable to viral attack because we have very few, and relatively feeble, antiviral therapies. There is not a single antiviral today that is as effective as penicillin when first discovered. Antiviral research is 50 years behind antibiotics. 

Spanish flu in 1918‒19 spread across the world in months, on foot, horses, donkeys, trains and ships, killing over 30 million people, out of a world population of 2 billion. If a similar highly infectious and lethal pandemic begins tomorrow, it is likely to spread on international flights in days and weeks, not months, with no time for vaccine development or global distribution, and could kill 100 million people within a year.

That is why the World Health Organisation keeps warning governments about these threats.

Read more: I warned of pandemics like Coronavirus COVID-19 in 1998 and 2015 (books), and in hundreds of keynotes to multinationals, health agencies, NGOs, governments. I always say: "The world can change faster than you can call a board meeting - need for Agility".

The truth about Chinese Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the illness COVID-19: wider picture of new mutant viruses. Greatest risk is spread in low-income African nations with few resources to prevent explosive growth of infections - coronavirus keynote speaker

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

12th February 2020

Repeated warnings about mutant flu / new viruses like SARS-CoV-2 - wider long term picture

At a time of panic in some communities, here is a common sense view. I am writing as a physician and trends analyst who has been involved in the fight against HIV (another mutant virus) for over three decades. Since 1987 I have been predicting the great vulnerability of our world to new mutant viruses or mutations of existing ones, in my book The Truth about AIDS, in Futurewise published in 1998, and in The Future of Almost Everything published in 2015/2019...

Read more: The truth about Chinese Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and the illness COVID-19: wider picture of new mutant viruses. Greatest risk is spread in low-income African nations with few resources to prevent explosive growth of infections - coronavirus keynote speaker

How to stop getting old! Astonishing science to live longer. Secrets of longer life. Actuarial forecasts and Anti-aging biotech keynote speaker - POST / VIDEO

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

8 mechanisms of ageing in all animals are almost the same.

Dr Patrick Dixon, Futurist and physician takes a look at latest research into genetics, biotech, stem cells and other technologies that could dramatically improve life expectancy.

Learning lessons from non-ageing animals. Impact on longevity / life expectancy.

Part of keynote for Boehringer Ingleheim and brief interview on future health care, ageing and future life expectancy. 

Read more: How to stop getting old! Astonishing science to live longer. Secrets of longer life. Actuarial forecasts and Anti-aging biotech keynote speaker - POST / VIDEO

The truth about future health: why many health costs will fall dramatically, yet care budgets will soar. Impact on society, budgets, pharma, biotech, medtech, hospitals and home care - keynote speaker on health trends

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

Expect more health care innovation from 2045 - 2050 than in all human history

As a physician and a Futurist, I work with many of of the world's largest Pharma and MedTech companies, helping them develop next-generation treatments to improve human health and wellbeing.

Health care knowledge is doubling every 24 months, so we will know 32,000 times in 2048 than today more about how the human body works, why disease happens, how to detect early disease, how to treat illness effectively, and how to promote health. The growth of medical knowledge shows no signs of slowing down, indeed it is accelerating.

Take for example the Human Genome Project. Back in 2001 it cost around $800m to decode or sequence most of the genetic code of just one human being. By 2006, the cost per genome sequence had already fallen to around $300,000.

Today, the same can be achieved for around $1000, using Illumina’s highest-end products, including reagents and an appropriate contribution to the capital cost of its machines. For example, the NovaSeq 6000 machine costs around $1m to buy. So how will this technology and 100,000 other innovations change future health care??

Read more: The truth about future health: why many health costs will fall dramatically, yet care budgets will soar. Impact on society, budgets, pharma, biotech, medtech, hospitals and home care - keynote speaker on health trends

Future Health Care - book extract: MedTech, Biotech, NanoTech, Infotech- impact on health trends, longevity forecasts, hospitals, future home care and the future of the pharma industry in developed nations, emerging markets - health care keynote speaker

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

Future of Health - extract from The Future of Almost Everything book, by Futurist keynote speaker and physician, Dr Patrick Dixon, advisor to over 400 of the world's largest corporations, including many multinational pharma and health care companies.

We have seen how the future of every nation is linked to demographics, migrations and cities. But these things are also linked to the future health: not only how many people are born, but how fit they are and how long they live. And in health care, most of humankind will see an astonishing revolution over the next 30-50 years. The fact is that 65% of all health care spending in developed nations is on those over the age of 65, most of whom have several chronic health conditions, almost all related to the ageing process. Therefore it could be said that every pharma company and every hospital exists primarily to serve the health care needs of older people, in those parts of the world.

The greatest health challenges in the next two decades are almost all related to ageing, as many emerging nations also become older...

Read more: Future Health Care - book extract: MedTech, Biotech, NanoTech, Infotech- impact on health trends, longevity forecasts, hospitals, future home care and the future of the pharma industry in developed nations, emerging markets - health care keynote speaker

10 simple steps to add over 10 years to your life - how to increase your life expectancy and personal happiness - FEATURE

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

How to add 10 years to your life expectancy in 10 easy steps

As a physician and a futurist I am often asked how to live a long and healthy life.

1.  Eat five portions of fruit and vegetables a day
2.  Exercise regularly - at least 2 hours a week (brisk walking does count)
3.  Don't smoke tobacco / use nicotine products
4.  Keep body weight at healthy level]
5.  Limit alcohol to one drink a day (average)
6.  Keep a positive outlook on life
7.  Form happy, long term relationships
8.  Find work or volunteering that you enjoy and you feel makes a difference
9.  Move to a nation with excellent free health care
10.  Seek early advice if you have symptoms which could be serious

Read more: 10 simple steps to add over 10 years to your life - how to increase your life expectancy and personal happiness - FEATURE

Want to live forever? How to repair human organs, build new organs and regenerate your brain, liver, kidney, spinal cord and retina. Why stem cells will change our lives - future of health care

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

JUST AS I PREDICTED - 14 years ago in the video above.  We are now curing blindness in humans, using their own stem cells.

Stem cells are primitive cells which have the capacity to grow into many different types of organs. We now know that whenever an organ in your body is injured, these special cells are released by the bone marrow into the blood, which automatically search out areas of damage. 

The cells migrate to where they are most needed, and help in repairs.  In most cases we think the way they do this is by producing special chemicals such as cytokines, and other proteins or fats, which stimulate local regeneration.

The good news is that doctors have decades of experience of using stem cells in health care, treating people with advanced leukaemia which is cancer of the bone marrow. And we can find stem cells in many different parts of the body.

Read more: Want to live forever? How to repair human organs, build new organs and regenerate your brain, liver, kidney, spinal cord and retina. Why stem cells will change our lives - future of health care

Future of Health Care and MedTech - astonishing innovations to transform diagnosis and treatment. Health trends keynote speaker for Leica Microsystems- VIDEO

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

Future of MedTech - this is video 2 out of a series of 3 on the future of Health Care, made by Patrick Dixon for Leica Microsystems. Astonishing advances we will see in next decade driven by med tech.  Convergence: biotech, nanotech, digital, physics, chemistry. Ability to read your genome in 2 hours. Fusion of fluidics, physics, immunology. Falling cost per genome. Biodigital brains and thought control. Role of Big Data and cloud processing – combine medical records, lifestyle info, gene profiles, pharmacogenomics. Genes for speech, memory, murder, shyness and happiness. Genetic prophecy and ethical issues for insurers. And the ultimate nano-tech robot is….. Need a world-class medical technology speaker for your event? Phone or e-mail Patrick Dixon now.

Read more: Future of Health Care and MedTech - astonishing innovations to transform diagnosis and treatment. Health trends keynote speaker for Leica Microsystems- VIDEO

Future of Pharma Reimbursement and Health Care Trends, Treatment Access and Funding Approval - why health care rationing will dominate pharma funding - impact on patients and pharma profits

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

Notes on pharma trends keynote. In the past, the major challenge for a pharma company was to develop a new therapy, prove impact in clinical trials, show safety, and get licience approval to enable the product to be sold commercially.  Typically the process could take up to 15 years, and cost up to $1.2 billion, which all had to be recouped in 10 years of sales before the patent ran out.  But today there is a massive additional hurdle which is persuading cash-strapped governments and insurers to fund a new therapy for patients.  It is no longer enough to prove the therapy works, saves lives, has less side effects and so on.  The pharma company has to make the case that the therapy offers good value for money compared to other treatments for the same condition. Need a world-class pharma keynote speaker for your event? Phone or e-mail Patrick Dixon now.

Read more: Future of Pharma Reimbursement and Health Care Trends, Treatment Access and Funding Approval - why health care rationing will dominate pharma funding - impact on patients and pharma profits

Future of Health Care research, funding, hospitals, community care - first in series of 3 videos for Leica Microsystems covering every aspect of health trends - what future health will look like in by 2040

Futurist Keynote Speaker: Posts, Slides, Videos - Health, Coronavirus Speaker Future Pharma Keynotes

Video 1 of 3 on future of health care - including hospital care, diagnostics, pharma trends, community care, government funding. Videos made for Leica Microsystems by Patrick Dixon. Major health advances e.g. Endoscopy - $75bn market by 2022 – and stents etc. Ability to detect live cancer cells in operations (Dune). Cancer therapy. Heart disease and stroke management. Better understanding of lifestyle / nutrition / neutraceuticals. Alzheimers and mitochondria boost (both see again under ageing in video 3). Computer-aided diagnosis. Digitised patient records. Huge expansion community care. Telemonitoring and home testing. Virtual medicine. Web tools for patients – know more than their doctors. Social media – sharing experience / scoring carers. Need a world-class health trends speaker for your event? Phone or e-mail Patrick Dixon now.

Read more: Future of Health Care research, funding, hospitals, community care - first in series of 3 videos for Leica Microsystems covering every aspect of health trends - what future health will look like in by 2040