By investing in the medical sector, web giants are positioning themselves as an alternative to public and private health systems that are running out of steam. Investigation into the underside of a galloping model, which mobilizes technology and data collection. “Cure and eliminate all diseases by the end of the century”: this is the ambition of Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, through their foundation, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. For several years, Web giants have been investing massively in the world of medicine. While Google develops artificial intelligence capable of competing with the best practitioners, Apple allows everyone to control their state of health thanks to connected objects, while Amazon seizes the telemedicine and mutual insurance markets via Amazon Care, its healthcare service. ‘assistance. These tech behemoths, joined by numerous start-ups, are banking on the exploitation of health data, the “new black gold”, to improve care, reduce costs and prevent diseases.
But can we entrust them with this information with our eyes closed? While the European Union has so far regulated the confidentiality of personal data, its management in the United States and the United Kingdom is handed over to companies through lucrative contracts. Between medical progress and the race for profits, how can we understand this new model? How will it change the role of doctors?
Juicy business
From medical diagnosis to insurance and genetic testing, nothing now seems to escape the Web giants. Fueled by expert testimonies, this investigation questions both the advantages and the excesses of this new vision of health, between remedying the shortage of doctors and monitoring behavior. Carried out in Europe and the United States, it reveals in particular the way in which private companies attempt to appropriate a lucrative market under the guise of making individuals masters of their well-being. Through the experience of a digital medical community created on a regional scale in Germany, the documentary also shows alternatives moving in the direction of global and humanist health management.
Illustration: DR
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