(Image source from: Indian scientist becomes member of high-level health panel})
UN chief Ban Ki-moon has appointed an eminent Indian scientist, Yusuf Hamied, to a high-level panel on health technology innovation and access. Yusuf Hamied is the non-executive chairman of Cipla, generic pharmaceutical manufacturer. He will now be a part of Health panel of 16 members. The co-chairpersons of the panel will be Ruth Dreifuss, former President of Switzerland, and Festus Mogae, former President of Botswana.
This comes an effort to escalate investments in R&D for diseases, in cases where there is no guarantee of financial returns. According to UN, Hamied led efforts for the treatment of AIDS as well as its eradication, besides other diseases in the developing world. He also put efforts to life-saving medicines to patients, regardless of their paying ability.
In 2001, Yusuf Hamied offered first affordable AIDS medicine in the world for an exceptional cost of $1 per day. Moreover, he had influenced in pioneering the multi-drug combination pill development, especially for tuberculosis, asthma, HIV, and other ailments, which mostly affect developing countries. The scientist has been influential in the development of paediatric formulations of drugs. This particularly benefitted children in poor background.
The UN secretary general said, “the panel's eminent members are well-respected individuals with a deep knowledge and understanding of the broad range of trade, public health, human rights and legal issues associated with access to treatment."
-Sumana
