Keynote Session Better than a Crystal Ball: Health futures in transition -By Dr. Sohail Inayatullah, UNESCO Chair in Futures Studies at the Sejahtera Centre for Sustainability and Humanity, International Islamic University, Malaysia PFutures thinking is a method of strategic planning that evaluates what is expected to change and what is likely to remain the same in the future to be more thoughtful. Some consider it to be more of an art and others to be a science, it provides a framework for discussing our current environment and how it might appear in the future. It indicates what might happen as a result of current decisions, activities, and concerns as well as contains all possible future scenarios to make the greatest decisions for everyone concerned, which is referred to as the preferred future. From the healthcare perspective, the WHO Science Division established a Global Health Foresight function in 2020 to assist Member States in incorporating futures-thinking and horizonscanning into their strategic health planning frameworks so that they can better anticipate and prepare for a changing world while also maximising the benefits of emerging technologies to address these changes. Dr. Sohail Inayatullah, an international expert on the subject began the 3rd Annual Healthcare Management Conference hosted by Goa Institute of Management by emphasizing on using the future, by moving the future from a ‘predictive space to a more social, cultural and a tangible asset’. As we simply cannot predict the future by data, we need to focus on how the image is changing, narrow our vision and understand the paradigm shift there is. “In futures thinking, the mile starts to shift not just as a silver bullet but also in a social, cultural and environmental context.” Dr. Inayatullah explained this point by mentioning the fact that a study conducted in Victoria showed that 34% of doctors indulged in meditation and 80% believed that there was a need for complementary medicine. He acknowledged the rise of geo-medicine. A study conducted in Israel indicated that if a person is staying near a fast-food restaurant, his/her chances of getting a stroke is much higher that a person who is not living near. Another concept that is gaining prominence is the concept of customisation and personalisation where there are tailored health plans as per the individual need. All of this indeed brings us to a point where we begin wondering how do we use the future.
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