As we develop high-tech solutions like microgravity-manufactured drugs or rapid AI-driven diagnostics, how do we ensure these don’ t exacerbate a two-tier healthcare system?
Dr Tuckey: As someone who trained in the NHS, this is one of the most important questions. The honest answer is that private diagnostics could widen inequality if implemented poorly. But used effectively, technology can improve access to healthcare for everyone, supporting earlier diagnosis. AI works best when it makes healthcare more efficient, speeds up diagnosis and frees up resources across the whole system.
Dr Baker: Today the conversation is about individual tools and technologies. Tomorrow it has to be about systems. And when you move into systems thinking, the NHS takes an advantage: it is uniquely placed to do systems thinking because it’ s one population, one infrastructure and one standard at scale. That’ s a levelling power that will enable the NHS to keep pace.
Dr King: The most important question isn’ t whether technology is advanced- it’ s who benefits from it. Some of the most exciting innovations in healthcare are actually those that improve access to care and treatment pathways. At BioOrbit, we’ re enabling pharmaceutical drugs to be manufactured in space, at scale, for the first time in history, to solve a very human problem on Earth. Today, cancer treatments require repeated hospital visits and specialist drug administration. If we can enable patients to self-administer those treatments at home, via injectables as we do with diabetes, we’ re not creating exclusivity; we’ re removing barriers and improving healthcare outcomes.
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