“There is a shift taking place in the public health arena to strategically engage the private sector to address global health needs,” said Bridget McHenry, a fellow for Global Health Fellows Program II, serving as organizational development adviser for Office of Population and Reproductive Health in U.S. Agency for International Development’s Global Health Bureau.
An increasing number of companies are turning their attention — and their resources — to the vast health needs of the global population for two essential reasons: It represents opportunities to create shared value and it is foundational to a thriving economy. Relatively new to the landscape of international development, strategic partnerships help to guide the strategies, investments and on-the-ground engagements that can inform the deployment of the resources only the private sector can bring.
Working with the Public Health Institute and its innovative work through the USAID-funded Global Health Fellows Program opened my eyes to the realities, needs, and opportunities for the private, public, and social sectors to engage in global health. It’s not news to the professionals in this field that health is the base upon which development and commerce meet, but it’s something that the rest of us might not see as clearly.
About the author
Laura Asiala
Passionate about the power of business to help solve the world’s most intransigent problems, she leads the efforts to attract more participation of businesses to contribute to sustainable development through their people and their work. Prior to working for PYXERA Global, Laura was director of corporate citizenship at the Dow Corning Corporation. Her 30-year career in international business has included roles in HR, business development, finance, marketing, branding, communications, and corporate social responsibility, including the company’s public-private partnership with the Global Alliance for Clean Cookstoves (a UN Foundation, U.S. State Department, and Clinton Global Initiative).
