PANEL: Global Health—Development Needs, Research Developments
Master of Ceremonies: Dr. Barry Bloom, Harvard University Distinguished Service Professor and Joan L. And Julius H. Jacobson Professor of Public Health
Panelists:
Dr. Seth Berkley, President and CEO, International AIDS Vaccine Initiative; Dr. Majid Fotuhi, Assistant Professor of Neurology, Johns Hopkins Hospital; Aart de Geus, Deputy Secretary General of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD); Dr. Matthew Spitzer, President of the U.S. board, Doctors Without Borders; Ellis Rubenstein, President and CEO of the New York Academy of Sciences; Admiral R. Timothy Ziemer, United States Malaria Coordinator, President’s Malaria Inititative
Panel summary by Mary Kate Nevin, World Policy Journal
Considerable progress has been made in the science of health around the world, though vast resource gaps remain before breakthroughs should be expected, concluded the seven contributor
s to the “Global Health: Development Needs, Research Developments” panel of the Global Creative Leadership Summit. The first, Dr. Seth Berkley of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, spoke highly of scientific progress in drug and treatment-related breakthroughs, but highlighted the need for “better prevention tools.” This kind of progress will require increased partnerships to ensure that various “sectors can work together seamlessly [to] work on solving these problems.”
In the field of dementia, Dr. Majid Fotuhi suggested that this disease, often attributed to developed countries, actually affects the entire world. Cognitive dementia, Fotuhi explained, is not necessarily caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Instead, lifestyle elements like hypertension, obesity, smoking, and a sedentary lifestyle have a much greater impact on the brain. As a result, he championed interventions to reduce obesity, including economic incentives to encourage healthier choices. “We need to take the same approach to obesity that we have taken to smoking cessation,” he said, and “we need to take action now.”
Indeed, “a massive attack on obesity” was urged by another panelist, Deputy Secretary General of the OECD Aart de Geus, who cited the organization’s consistent findings that obesity intensifies a host of health-related issues. In addition, de Geus called attention to the migration of doctors from developing countries to places like the United States and Britain. This “brain drain” presents a real problem in allocating the right personnel to aging societies and contributes to a serious developmental imbalance, de Geus pointed out, urging cooperation to develop effective global rules and principles.
Taking issue with other panelists, and based on his personal experience, Dr. Matthew Spitzer of Doctors Without Borders questioned making obesity a global priority. In developing countries, he explained, crippling malnutrition makes obesity unthinkable. But he emphasized the urgency of dealing with global health issues like malnutrition and HIV/AIDS, saying that “the message really is treatment now.” Efficient partnerships and additional funding, he acknowledged, “only comes with political will and moral courage.”
A middle ground was suggested by Ellis Rubenstein, president and CEO of the NY Academy of Sciences, who addressed the apparent paradox of coexistent obesity and malnutrition by attributing them both to bad nutrition. He outlined several key strategies to address this and other global health issues, like integrating institutional interventions for achieving the Millennium Development Goals, leveraging information and communications technologies to empower health care workers and the rural poor, and using social networking to scale up synergy-producing collaborations.
Also spotlighting ways to build progress on these issues was Admiral R. Timothy Ziemer, who directs President Obama’s Malaria Initiative. The Global Malaria Action plan focuses on sub-Sahara Africa using effective prevention interventions with the goal of eventually eradicating the disease. “We are using the tools that we have today, expecting new tools in the future,” he said. “Today we are embracing what we have now”
Master of Ceremonies Dr. Barry Bloom concluded the discussion by outlining research priorities in the global health field. He spotlighted the vast number of illnesses and vaccines to be addressed, underscoring the critical need for implementation research and calling for increased coordination both among and between the hundreds of donor agencies that exist. The biggest issue, though, is more difficult than the technological changes of vaccines and drugs. “We don’t know how to change behavior,” he observed. In order to achieve effective prevention measures in the future, this will be the number one priority.