All five ‘pitches’ generated interest from both the Philips Africa Innovation Hub and the UBS Optimus Foundation. From using gamification to improve maternity health via mobile apps, to paying toilet users to incentivise healthy hygienic activity in rural India, the session provided a definitive way forward on multiple fronts.
"The level of support we received at the Summit – the number of people that wanted to partner with us to design and meet development goals – was massive," Christian said, reflecting on the event. "Everyone is aware of our health work in HIV, AIDS, and TB in South Africa and Botswana, and the potential that has to keep delivering business and social value."
Supporting progress
Creating shared value means creating economic value in a way that also addresses the critical social needs and challenges of a society. Health advances in particular require progress in other sectors, such as employment, education, water, sanitation, energy and infrastructure. It’s about integrating investments from across these sectors – instead of thinking one industry can address development issues on its own.
"How can we bring organisations and financial institutions face-to-face with the challenges we see every day?" Christian asked. "Do businesses build their own capacity or seek guidance from those with greater knowledge and expertise? Do we see a problem with a large cost or do we see a market for a partner to take advantage of? It is, in fact, a question of perspective, and one that applies to the private sector as a whole."
With the post-2015 goals still under discussion, the focus remains on the questions. But this month, at least, the Summit went some way towards imagining the answers.
Find out more about our approach to safety and health.
