Does pharma need a mission reset?
As we continue to tackle Covid-19, leaders in pharma and healthcare will be turning their attention to the ways in which the public and private sectors can work together to drive benefits for all.
For Michelle Nunn, President & CEO of Care USA, such collaboration is vital, as although the response to the pandemic has been swift, there have been failures too, providing lessons from which we can learn a great deal.
I think those disparities that we have seen over the last two years in how the pandemic has affected people differently in light of their gender, race, or socioeconomic background for example has profoundly demonstrated that we have our work cut out for us in terms of health equity. And, as pharma reconsiders its own role, I think that's one of the big lessons that we have to consider, and hopefully act upon.Tackling vaccine nationalism, opening up the sharing of knowledge and learnings across the global stage, and coordinating more effectively through international NGOs are all immediate priorities.
But more broadly, there is also the question of whether the pandemic has triggered a “mission reset” for the industry where pharma re-evaluates the role it may play in tackling the bigger issues of our time. For Nunn, this is firmly on the horizon.
“We see how COVID is also kind of creating a confluence with climate change, and also with conflict, and how just the magnitude and the enormity of the challenges are so extraordinary that it does feel like truly historic and a generational challenge. We really do have to work together, in a collaborative way, to make sure that we are thinking proactively, and also forecasting the challenges that are before us.”
Listen to the Pharma Unlimited Podcast series – a new series where host Bertrand Bodson goes under the microscope to examine some of the biggest issues facing the pharma sector.