Burjeel Holdings Champions Climate-Resilient and Innovative Healthcare Solutions at World Economic Forum

• Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil joined esteemed global leaders to discuss critical healthcare challenges posed by climate change

 Burjeel Holdings, a leading super-specialty healthcare services provider in the MENA region, highlighted its groundbreaking initiatives that incorporate climate change considerations into healthcare delivery, while also driving scalable solutions in the fight against cancer, at the World Economic Forum.

During a high-level roundtable discussion titled “Investing in Healthcare: A Prescription for Climate Resilience?”, Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil, Founder and Chairman of Burjeel Holdings, joined distinguished global leaders to address critical healthcare challenges.

The discussion centered on overcoming key roadblocks and identifying transformative opportunities for developing and funding innovative health solutions tailored to a climate-impacted future. Participants explored how collaboration and targeted investment can drive a proactive, resilient approach to safeguarding global health amid the challenges posed by climate change.

Burjeel’s Initiatives in Climate-Resilient Healthcare

Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil noted that while the initial investments in climate-resilient healthcare may be significant, the long-term benefits are essential for safeguarding global health. He highlighted the Burjeel Holdings Center for Climate and Health—an innovative initiative designed to deliver integrated, climate-resilient solutions by embedding climate-related counseling and preventive strategies directly into clinical care. The center was recently featured in a World Economic Forum whitepaper titled Healthcare in a Changing Climate: Investing in Resilient Solutions, which highlights its introduction of advanced screening for climate-sensitive triggers such as air pollution and extreme heat.

“Burjeel is demonstrating how healthcare providers can play a proactive role in addressing the health impacts of climate change. We’ve put together a dedicated team who, through our center for climate and health, are transforming care delivery in the face of climate change,” said Dr. Shamsheer Vayalil.

He detailed an innovative program Burjeel will be launching in the summer that will use state-of-the-art Agentic AI to automatically contact at-risk patients—identified by physicians or through its electronic medical record system—to alert them about changes due to extreme weather.

Notable participants in the session included Dr. Orazio Schillaci, Italy’s Health Minister, along with Nick Studer of Oliver Wyman, Alan Dangour of the Wellcome Trust, Audrey Duval of Sanofi, Camilla Macapili Languille of Mubadala, Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, Pam Cheng of AstraZeneca, and Peter Sands of The Global Fund. Dr. Victor Dzau of the National Academy of Medicine served as facilitator.

Innovating Cancer Care: Bridging Local Solutions

At the Annual Meeting 2025, Burjeel Holdings also conducted a WEF-accredited workshop titled ‘Innovating Cancer Care: Bridging Local Solutions’. The session brought together multiple stakeholders with a shared interest of optimizing care for cancer patients in emerging markets including key opinion leaders from various sectors: oncology, translational science, AI and digital health, telemedicine and monitoring, decentralized trials, drug development (pharmaceuticals), and healthcare investment. The engaging and interactive workshop for the global experts was led by MSNBC anchor Richard Lui, Profs. Khaled Musallam, Don Dizon, and Garth Powis.

Discussions focused on leveraging emerging technologies to enhance cancer diagnosis, improve treatment accessibility, and reduce costs. Experts examined strategies for addressing affordability and scaling successful local solutions—particularly in emerging markets—to achieve equitable universal cancer treatment.

Speaking on clinical trials and access to innovative medicines, Prof. Khaled Musallam, Group Chief Research Officer, Burjeel Holdings, said, “One key barrier to importing global clinical trials into emerging markets is lack of inter-country harmonization of regulatory approval pathways, and a considerable time window between clinical trials and marketing authorization - which commonly relies on US or European approvals. Adopting unified standards that meet the evolving requirements of the pharmaceutical industry and ensuring a continuum of access to novel therapies can be a key game changer.”

The experts also discussed encouraging emerging economies that have some available resources to collaborate as best they can in establishing clinics and hospitals where outside funding agencies could provide access to evolving new medical technologies.