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Goh stressed that CHAI cannot tackle child diarrhea in India alone and needs new commitments and more partnerships with the private sector.

Regional Breakfast- India

May 17, 2013

Panelists:

• Shuma Panse, Senior Manager, Membership and Advisory Services, GBCHealth (moderator)
• Nancy Goh, Partnerships Manager, Essential Medicines Program, Clinton Health Access Initiative
• Laura Herman, Managing Director, FSG
• M.A. Ravi Kumar, CEO, The American India Foundation

Key Points:

• GBCHealth member interest in India is very high, with many companies already active in the country
• The health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will not be met globally without success in India
• Private sector engagement and public-private partnerships will be critical to India’s success in attaining MDGs 4,5 and 6, the health-related goals
• There are many opportunities for GBCHealth members to become more involved, including implementing a shared value business model or partnering with organizations such as CHAI and the American India Foundation
• GBCHealth will convene a private-sector focused event in India this fall

GBCHealth’s Shuma Panse opened the session with an overview of current public health challenges facing India. India not only has a large prevalence of infectious diseases and malnutrition, but non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have become an increasing concern as well. There is a lack of access to healthcare in many rural areas and on-going health disparities between the rich and the poor. In order to make significant progress in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Panse stressed the importance of focusing on India’s many health challenges.  

Laura Herman, managing director of FSG, shared new research on how companies can use the shared value approach to tackle public health issues in India. The private sector usually engages in public health initiatives in three ways: corporate philanthropy, risk mitigation and shared value. Shared value is “enhancing the competitiveness of a company while simultaneously advancing the economic and social conditions in the communities in which it operates,” she said. Herman commended General Electric, Novartis, Nestlé and Unilever for addressing some of the health concerns in India using an inclusive shared value business model. To transition effectively to shared value business models, Herman suggested that companies use a top-down approach, understand that shared value is not a short-term endeavor and understand that corporate shared value is different than corporate social responsibility.

Nancy Goh, Partnerships Manager of Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), spoke about CHAI’s effort to address MDG 4, reducing child deaths, by scaling up access to zinc and ORS in India. Despite being preventable and treatable, diarrhea remains a public health challenge and is the second leading cause of death in India, causing approximately 212,000 deaths a year. CHAI aims to increase access to zinc and ORS in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.  Goh said that though zinc and ORS are effective and affordable diarrhea treatments, many patients don’t have access to them. Sankalp, a public-private partnership led by CHAI, aims to address this problem and prevent 200,000 child diarrhea deaths by 2015. Goh stressed that CHAI cannot tackle child diarrhea in India alone and needs new commitments and more partnerships with the private sector.

Ravi Kumar, CEO of the American Indian Foundation (AIF), gave insight into AIF’s public health endeavors, including the Maternal and Newborn Survival Initiative (MANSI). MANSI is a public-private partnership that aims to “reduce maternal and child mortality by providing care, resources and support to empower local communities to care for their mothers and children, and improve local health systems.” MANSI trains community health care workers so that they are able to assist in home-based care for mothers and infants. Kumar explained that the success of MANSI is due to strong partnerships, financial leverage, an emphasis on quality, program analysis, and strong monitoring and evaluation.