Global Health Blog

Written by FSG Managing Director Kyle Peterson and FSG Associate Samuel Kim, this blog was originally posted on Business Fights Poverty's blog.

Two weeks ago in New York FSG launched its new research on creating shared value in global health, Competing by Saving Lives, in New York. The event brought together more than 100 representatives from the pharmaceutical and medical device industries, and from key global health stakeholders. The attendees heard Prof. Michael Porter launch the findings of the report, and then engaged in a lively discussion that built on the key recommendations, including a panel with representatives from BD, Abbott, and Novartis, moderated by Jane Nelson of the Harvard Kennedy School.

Innovative community-focused information sharing and mapping techniques have literally exploded in the last years. These tools have the power to revolutionize how we think about solutions to global health challenges.  For example, a recent UNOCHA report outlines how novel information sharing approaches that build on the strength of communities have the potential to radically reshape responses to disasters, health emergencies and other challenges.

Over the last decade, significant investment and effort has been spent developing products to address diseases of the developing world, including malaria, TB, and AIDS. Product Development Partnerships (PDPs), nonprofit organizations that work with donors, governments, and the industry to develop drugs, vaccines, diagnostics, and vector control methods to address these diseases, have played a critical role in the development of these technologies.

By now, I’m sure you’ve heard of TED, the renowned conference and resulting website that distribute “riveting talks by remarkable people, free to the world.” For FSGers, an inherently curious bunch, it’s like intellectual candy – we’re even planning our own internal lunchtime TED talks series. And as a new member of FSG, I’ve found it to be an enormously useful tool for staying on-trend for our diverse issue areas. Over the past few months, I’ve been gaining expertise on global health: the players, the macro trends, the innovations and the challenges. I want to share with you five terrific TED talks on Global Health that I’ve come across.