|
Continued from previous page
"If we can solve these problems with rigorous research, we
will have a health care system that is even more effective than
it is today," he says. "The goal is to have more successes with
higher quality and fewer errors. For even if you have great biologic
cures, if you can't deliver them efficiently, all the work
behind them can be lost."
While the explosion of medical information primarily is a
good thing, says Eisenberg, it is not a panacea in itself for medical
care. "The point is for clinicians and patients to communicate.
That is where quality health care happens," he says.
"Information on the Internet is fine, but we still need to have
research on basic care."
Blaise Judja-Sato:
The Fed Ex of Remote Medical Care
When Blaise Judja-Sato, WG'94, looks back at his native
Africa, he sees potential wasted. But unlike others in business,
he has not looked for ways to exploit the continent's vast natural
resources or searched for niche markets for some product.
Judja-Sato, who has had a long history of success in the
telecommunications business since getting his Wharton MBA,
is instead enthralled with making basic vaccines and essential
drugs available to even the most remote citizens of Africa.
With the support of a number of big-name foundations,
he has started VillageReach, which he says will "provide that
last mile, to guarantee that vaccines to save lives will get to kids
wherever they live – be it the jungle or in remote villages or
in the squalor of cities."
A native of Cameroon who was educated in Africa and
France before coming to Wharton, Judja-Sato worked for
AT&T in international business development, helping build
the undersea cable Africa One, which loops around the continent
connecting all its nations. He then signed on as director
of international development for Teledesic, a Seattle-based
satellite broadband technology company created by tech giants
Bill Gates and Craig McCaw.
But in the meantime, Judja-Sato decided to reinforce his
ties to his native continent. He got on the board of the Seattle
branch of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
and became a trustee of the Africa-America Institute, a New
York and Washington-based educational group fostering ties
between the U.S. and African nations.
And, most importantly, he has become the American president
of the Nelson Mandela Foundation, started by the South
African leader to promote education, democracy and health
care improvements in Africa.
"As president of the Foundation, I really became exposed
to the immense issues and problems of health care in Africa,"
says Judja-Sato. "There has been amazing progress, but clearly
there are enormous problems still to face." For instance, he
says, 80 percent of African children are not immunized for any
diseases. Nearly two million die every year from diseases that
could be prevented by simple vaccinations.
"What is amazing is the
vaccines are there and people are willing to find
them and take them, but when I looked at the
problem seriously, I discovered it was a dependable
distribution mechanism that was missing," he says.
VillageReach is Judja-Sato's solution to the problem.
By piggy-backing on existing transportation
and communication venues, he hopes to open up
Africa to better health care and, he feels, a far better
future. For instance, if the Coca-Cola truck can get
to a village, there is no reason Coke can't be induced
to have it carry some vaccines as well. Transport companies
want roads built for other reasons, so perhaps
they will realize that healthy bodies in the jungles will
provide good labor for them.
"We want to build strategic alliances, just like in any
good business venture," says Judja-Sato. "We want to
show the multiplier effect of good health for economic
good. Healthy people and those with healthy families
work harder. They are more productive. Women who
don't have to worry about their children become active
members of the community. There is less money spent on
health care and more on schools and businesses.
"Let me explain my rationale," says Judja-Sato. "I am
an African and fortunate to have a good education and a
good job. I have been exposed to wealthy individuals and
have access to moral and political leaders like President
Mandela. I have to take advantage of these unique circumstances
to help solve problems of people in vulnerable
and disadvantaged communities."
|
