WIHE FAIRS CONCLUDED WITH SUCCESS!
Warsaw International Healthcare Exhibition WIHE is over. The fairs, taking place at Warsaw EXPO XXI Centre for three days, starting from the 8th to the 10th of October, gathered medical and pharmaceutical technologies producers, managers of pharmaceutical entities and hospitals, as well as many doctors of various specialisations.
The opening ceremony took place on 8th October at 11:00 o’clock. It was conducted by Suzanne King – Development Director ITE London, Edward Strachan – Lent Trade Events, Janusz Kaszuba – Director of the Department of Healthcare Organisation (Ministry of Health), Kajetan Wojsyk – Director of the Centre for Healthcare Information Systems and Anna Fałat – WIHE Director.
The fairs gathered exhibitors from fourteen countries – including Great Britain, South Korea, China, Lithuania, Qatar, Turkey, Pakistan, Germany and Bulgaria. Moreover, companies from the Belgian healthcare sector were present at the fairs, as a part of the Trade Mission organised in co-operation with the Embassy of Belgium in Poland – the Economic and Trade Representation of Flanders.
Due to the international character and the extensive programme of the event, representatives of the Ministry of Health, Embassies, as well as twenty different editors made their appearance at the exhibition. On the whole, two thousand guests – exclusively professionals from the industry - visited the event.
I have to admit that my general impression of the exhibition is positive. When it comes to the visitors’ position in the company, it varies a lot, but there was a large number of directors of various entities and decision makers. The event was very well organised and the atmosphere was great – says Paweł Zawłocki from ResQmed.
Moreover, the Forum conferences were helpful in recognising different sectors of the market and focusing on what is currently of major significance in the industry. The issue of co-operation with the Belgian market was interesting. To sum up – I consider the exhibition as really successful – he adds.
Indeed, from the first hours of the event, the representatives of Belgian companies managed to gather around them a considerable group of entrepreneurs, company owners and healthcare managers. The meetings and discussions resulted in establishing many business relations and – which is of equal importance – international contacts. Not only did the foreigners represent exhibitors, but also constituted a significant number of professional visitors.
Value added
WIHE was not only an exhibition – they were accompanied by an extensive programme of special events in which both the visitors and the exhibitors had a chance to participate. Conferences and lectures gathered as many as four hundred people!
The event was successful, we managed to make some business contacts – and a lot more than we had expected. We also managed to take advantage of the events of the accompanying programme. What drew my attention, were the lectures on subsidies from the European Union funds for therapeutic entities and telemedicine workshops – says Damian Maniara from MDT Medical.
Radiology, telemedicine and management
The first day of the exhibition abounded in special events which attracted many guests. One of such events was the 4th All-Poland Radiological Workshops on the International Day of Radiology, organised by the Polish Society of Radiation Therapy. Special guests were the representatives of the electrordiologists from France – Marine Rosambert, Arnauld Rzepecki and Florence Klein.
“Telemedicine and telecare as the solutions to social and health problems of elderly people” was the subject of a conference organised by the Polish Chamber of Commerce and the Commercial Chamber Polish Medicine. Its aim was to give explanation of the chances for the development of telemedicine in Poland, what its influence on the treatment of patients will be and how the provision of healthcare should be arranged considering numerous complex aspects. Representatives of the Ministry of Health participated in the conference.
A large number of healthcare managers were brought together by the Forum entitled “Optimization of the costs of therapeutic activity”, organised by the publisher of such periodicals as Healthcare Management Magazine and Management of Medicinal Entity, as well as by the lectures given by the companies Sequence and IMS Health on the prescriptive trends in Poland and the new balance of forces on the pharmaceutical distribution market.
Finances and intensive care
The second day of the exhibition was marked by two major themes – financing of the medicinal entities and modern techniques in anaesthesia and intensive care.
The 2nd Forum entitled “Rationalization of the investment expenditures in medicinal entities” and the seminar devoted to the issue of subsidies for the therapeutic entities in the years 2014-2020 gathered large audiences among which there were mainly the managers of hospitals and the decision makers from medicinal entities.
A two-day long conference on the modern techniques in anaesthesiology and intensive care was organised in co-operation with the I Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care of the Medical University of Warsaw. The event was accompanied by the first edition of WIHE Educational Academy which was dedicated to the problem of complex airway. Associate Professor Tomasz Łazowski was the chairman of the scientific committee of the conference on anaesthesiology. Whereas Prof. Ph. D. Tomasz Gaszynski – Head of Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy Medical University of Lodz - presided at the WIHE Educational Academy.
We have the winners of the „Friendly Stand” competition!
We have the winners of the „Friendly Stand” competition!
For two days of the exhibition, on 8th and 9th October, every visitor could cast their vote for the exhibitor who appealed to them as the one offering the best service. The highest score was achieved by the companies OK Medical Systems and Famed Żywiec. The award ceremony – presenting the statuettes and certificates – was held on the 10th October, the last day of the exhibition.
In my opinion, the exhibition has been very productive. We will keep our focus on WIHE in the future, as well. As for the contacts we have made, they look promising – Kazimierz Polarczyk from Famed Żywiec.
See you next year!
We would like to thank our exhibitors and visitors for attending the exhibition. We are grateful to our partners and patrons for their commitment while organising and promoting WIHE– says WIHE Director, Anna Fałat. Although this exhibition has just finished, soon we are going to prepare for the next year’s edition. We focus on development and meeting the expectations of the guests – she adds.
EXHIBITOR TESTIMONIALS
MICHAŁ SAJEWICZ, Nefrologin: I am really satisfied with the fairs. I believe that pretty soon we are going to hear from our newly met potential partners, and we will develop business relationships. The President of our company managed to take part in the events accompanying the fairs, which proved very helpful. Also the organisation was just fine.
ANGELIKA STRZELECKA, Konkret: The fairs served their purpose well. We had a lot of customers, we could also get acquainted with the equipment of other companies, pick some brochures and catalogues, learn about the technological innovations and make new contacts. The overall impression is positive – we have collected quite a lot of materials and we had a chance to compare our offer with the competition. I think next year we will be back at WIHE.
EMILA MARCZAK, MedGo: The fairs were productive. Thanks to this event you can make a lot of valuable contacts, you can see a lot of companies from the medical sector. It is my first time at WIHE and I am pleasantly surprised, the exhibition served its purpose.
MARCIN GUTU, Dycem: In my opinion the exhibition was productive; we made some good business contacts. For sure, it was worth coming here. It is our first time AT WIHE, and I think that considering our presence on the medical market and the business contacts we made, we will be coming here in the future.
HUBERT KOWALSKI, BTL Poland: We are satisfied. We have made some contacts which are likely to bring tangible business effect. We participated in the exhibition last year, and probably we are going to show up next year, as well.
OLAF JANKOWSKI, Frost: We had quite many customers, selected, non-random. The contacts we made are measurable and sensible. We are really glad about the friendly service and the organisation of the exhibition itself.
PHILIPS: It is only the second edition of the fairs but you can see that they are kicking off. Quite a lot of partners whom we already know came to visit us, but there are also many companies specializing in healthcare marketing and logistics, so there is a great variety of visitors.
For more information about the next WIHE Fairs do not hesiate to contact us!
