LONDON: Experts in the fields of healthcare and technology gathered for the ATOM Conference at London’s National Science Museum to explore the ways in which advances in artificial intelligence, quantum computing and biomedical sciences might revolutionize healthcare and extend human life.

They focused in particular on how best to leverage cutting-edge technologies to aid understanding of the “living universe” with the aim of improving health so that 100-year lifespans become the norm.

“Life matters. At the end of the day, whatever is happening on our planet, for us it’s about life,” Armen Sarkissian, the former president of Armenia, said during his opening remarks to delegates.

“We have spent a lot of money on our accelerators, our space stations, observation telescopes and many other things to understand the non-living universe but I realized that I don’t understand my body; we don’t understand our bodies.”

Sarkissian, who trained as a physicist and computer scientist before becoming a politician, was joined at the conference by an array of prominent expert speakers, including: Irene Tracey, the vice-chancellor of the University of Oxford; physicist Konstantin Novoselov, a Nobel prize-winner for his work on graphene; and Eric Xing, the president of Mohammed bin Zayed University of Artificial Intelligence in Abu Dhabi.

King Charles, a friend of Sarkissian, was scheduled to attend the conference but his speech was instead delivered by a spokesperson. In it, the monarch emphasized the royal family’s commitment to medical innovation, noting in particular his own interest in cancer research and treatment.

“Many of you will know that earlier this year (the king) was diagnosed with cancer, and (he is) very keen that other people should gain some benefit from his diagnosis,” said Dr. Michael Dixon, head of the Royal Medical Household.

“Perhaps he is more aware than any of us of the extraordinary potential to unleash a healthier future for us all.”

The conference was organized by the ATOM Institute, which was founded by Sarkissian and his son Vardan, the Science Museum and Singapore University.

Speakers highlighted the fact that our limited understanding of the living universe contrasts sharply with our advanced knowledge of many aspects of the non-living one. The discussions also considered the effects of conflicts and climate change on global health.

“We are living a time where there are devastating wars worldwide; in Ukraine, in Gaza, in Lebanon, in Armenia and elsewhere in the world, hundreds of thousands of lives are being lost,” Sarkissian said.

“You can restore a bridge, you can restore a house, you can restore many things (but) how on earth do you restore lives that are destroyed? How on earth do you (restore) the millions of people who are wounded? How do you restore the mental problems and depression of tens of millions of people (resulting from) our activity?”

Other panel discussions considered pressing health-related challenges such antimicrobial resistance, which was recently highlighted at the UN General Assembly, and the resilience of healthcare systems during pandemics and natural disasters.

Specialist sessions focused on the growing global crisis in mental health; the transformative potential of AI in the health sector, including its implications for patient care, diagnostics and longevity; and ethical challenges relating to data security and privacy.

The ATOM Institute, the name of which stands for “Advanced Tomorrow,” seeks to foster collaborations on issues spanning geopolitics, medical innovation and technological breakthroughs with the aim of revolutionizing healthcare and extending the human lifespan.

GENEVA: Nearly 230 health workers have been killed in Lebanon since the start of Israel’s war in Gaza following the Oct. 7 attacks last year, the World Health Organization said.
In total, the UN health agency said there had been 187 attacks on health care in Lebanon in the more than 13 months of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah over the Gaza conflict.
Between Oct. 7, 2023 and Nov.18 this year, “we have 226 deaths and 199 injuries in total,” Abdinasir Abubakar, the WHO representative in Lebanon, said via video link from Beirut.
He said “almost 70 percent” of these had occurred since the tensions escalated into an all-out war in September.
Saying this was “an extremely worrying pattern,” he stressed that “depriving civilians of access to lifesaving care and targeting health providers is a breach of international humanitarian law.”
Abubakar said: “A hallmark of the conflict in Lebanon is how destructive it has been to health care,” highlighting that 47 percent of these attacks “have proven fatal to at least one health worker or patient” — the highest percentage of any active conflict today.
By comparison, Abubakar said that only 13.3 percent of attacks on health care globally had fatal outcomes during the same period, pointing to data from a range of conflict situations, including Ukraine, Sudan, and the occupied Palestinian territory.
He suggested the high percentage of fatal attacks on health care in Lebanon might be because “more ambulances have been targeted.”
“And whenever the ambulance is targeted, actually, then you will have three, four or five paramedics ... killed.”
The conflict has dealt a harsh blow to overall health care in Lebanon, which was already reeling from a string of dire crises in recent years.
The WHO warned that 15 of Lebanon’s 153 hospitals have ceased operating or are only partially functioning.
Hanan Balkhy, WHO’s regional director for the eastern Mediterranean region, stressed that “attacks on health care of this scale cripple a health system when those whose lives depend on it need it the most.”
“Beyond the loss of life, the death of health workers is a loss of years of investment and a crucial resource to a fragile country going forward.”