Amid a more politically charged healthcare landscape, Fresenius’ CEO has called for a “fundamental rethink” to deliver healthcare systems that are more robust and efficient.
Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum (WEF), taking place in Davos, Switzerland, Michael Sen, CEO of the German multinational healthcare company, highlighted that most healthcare systems globally are from a “bygone era”, with the same mindsets around design and intentionality as when they were first created.
This bygone era did not have the challenges of today, including workforce shortages, efficiency strain, and ageing populations.
However, according to Sen, the mindset towards healthcare is largely unchanged on a country-by-country basis to the one held previously.
He explained: “Healthcare is largely an old system that is not fit to address the challenges in today’s world, and yet governments tend to ‘patch around’ existing infrastructure, with the mindset in most developed countries being that healthcare is a social cost.”
Given the passage of innovation around scientific progress and technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), growing healthcare to meet the challenges of the modern day and make it more resilient and robust, Sen said this is becoming a national security topic.
“In a new world order, clear industrial policies around devices, medicines and more are emerging with strong dependencies with manufacturing protocols and pharmaceutical compounds,” Sen said.
Sen’s prevailing point was that he sees healthcare becoming a top national security topic. He pointed to the healthcare industry shifts seen in China, which have been fuelled by national security policies. This movement is now galvanising in the US since Donald Trump reclaimed the White House in January 2025.
Since then, the Trump administration has announced the America First Global Health Strategy in September 2025, which aims to “prioritise the interests of Americans” regarding healthcare, while the US Department of Commerce (DOC) has initiated Section 232 probes regarding the importation of medical devices and other healthcare equipment.
Meanwhile, several big pharma companies have signed drug pricing deals with the US government to avoid the threat of tariffs. The Trump administration has also pushed for more onshoring of manufacturing provisions for biologics, a matter that is also on the agenda for medtech companies.
However, in this area, Sen noted that Europe is lagging, calling for a prioritisation of healthcare’s importance in economic policy.
“What needs to be done, in my view, is that we need to define healthcare as strategic critical infrastructure with a defined industrial policy around it, and embrace technology, innovation, and digitisation,” Sen said.
“Create abundance and thereby scale; whatever works, scale it,” Sen concluded.
