The Future of the Global Health Initiative

The Global Health Impact is a newly founded initiative aiming to “open the door to positive change by considering how essential medicines for TB, HIV/AIDS, and malaria are affecting global health” (Global Health Impact). This project was created in order to rate and evaluate different drugs, companies, and diseases in order to gain access to essential medicines in poor and developing countries and improve the future of global health, overall. This project, was founded by Professor Nicole Hassoun, a Philosophy professor. Last weekend, Hassoun held a global health conference discussing the project and like issues at Binghamton University. Those present at the conference, spoke about issues of marketing, labeling, and other global health. Attendees and presenters of the conference were, but were not limited to: Professor Subimal Chatterjeee, Claire Beetlestone, Professor Aidan Hollis, Peter Maybarduk, Pharmaceutical executives, as well as graduate students of the university.

Professor Chatterjee mentioned in his presentation the effects of labeling and how to market the Global Health Impact as a brand. He compared other brands to pharmaceutical companies such as Advil and Pfizer and Novartis. He surveyed Binghamton university students and asked them about brands and if there are certain brands they care more about purchasing over another. This survey showed a promising future for the Global Health Impact Fair-Trade label ideas that have recently been up for discussion. From Chaterjee’s promising results, college students currently enrolled in Binghamton University care about global health and the current issues facing it. From this, Chatterjee was able to predict that if different products were branded with the GHI label, this measure would be met with positive feedback and subsequent action to purchase.

While the GHI label may be far in the future, graduate student Nicholas Hall as well as Professor Hassoun introduced a new and improved Global Health Impact or GHI 2.0. This new interactive website will include more variables such as different diseases, introducing information on the neglected tropical diseases, more efficacy data, as well as a tool that calculates DALYs information for multiple variables at a time. This new 2.0 database is interactive and an innovative approach for the GHI. While 2.0 takes the Global Health Impact to the next level, there were some good questions that arose after the presentation from Professor Aidan Hollis and Peter Maybarduk. They asked who this new website was geared towards because those who are already interested in the subject will know how to calculate the data and have the information that they are providing. They both suggested improving 2.0 even more by making the system accessible to the public while adding more variables into the computer system. One variable that was persistently mentioned during discussion, was cost. The cost of the drugs being rated and scored was one of the major concerns that people would like to see addressed in the next advancement of the project.

The two-day conference and workshop brought many new ideas, information, and suggestions to the forefront of the Global Health Impact project. From this two-day event we can see a bright future paved for the GHI project. Furthermore, we learned of the disparate ideas and channels a society can take, in order to come together to make a difference in alleviating the global health burden and aiding in access to essential medicines problem. This conference brought together scholars, professors, students, and businessmen. When people of different backgrounds and fields, concerned with similar matters, join forces, we start to see a greater change—which is after all, all we want.