UN chief Ban Ki-moon has designated Padma Bhushan awardee Yusuf Hamied as one of the members of a high-level panel on health technology innovation.
- Chairman of pharmaceutical manufacturer Cipla Mr. Yusuf Hamied will join 16-member panel that will be co-chaired by former President of Switzerland Ruth Dreifuss and former President of Botswana Festus Mogae.
About Yusuf Hamied
He has been influential in pioneering the development of multi-drug combination pills, mainly for HIV, tuberculosis, asthma and other ailments affecting developing countries as well as the development of paediatric formulations of drugs.
- Hamied put his efforts to treat and eradicate AIDS and other diseases and to give patients life-saving medicines regardless of their ability to pay.
- In 2001 he offered the world’s first affordable AIDS medicine at the unprecedented cost of USD 1 per day.
Awards and Recognitions:
- In 2005 he was awarded the Padma Bhushan.
- In 2012 Hamied was awarded the CNN-IBN Indian of the Year.
- In 2013 he was also named one of the India’s 25 Greatest Global Living Legends by NDTV.
- In 2015 he featured in the Creating Emerging Markets project at the Harvard Business School.
Reason behind high-level panel on health technology innovation
Recent Ebola crisis killed over 11,000 people in West Africa highlighted the need to invest research and development of non-terminal diseases, including infectious diseases such as HIV and Hepatitis C, the rising burden of non-communicable disease and the affordability of both modern and traditional health technologies.
- The Panel is expected to hold its first meeting in December 2015.