World Health Day 2007
Ashoka Honors the Work of Leading Social Entrepreneurs: Investing in Health, Building a Safer Future
To commemorate World Health Day 2007, Ashoka celebrates the remarkable contribution of Ashoka Fellows improving the quality of human health. Ashoka Fellows are:
- Strengthening health care delivery systems,
- Increasing access to essential medicines and quality care,
- Empowering youth to take ownership of community health,
- Establishing public-private partnerships for health access, and
- Developing support networks for immigrant populations.
For the past 26 years, Ashoka has supported the world's leading social entrepreneurs and their innovative solutions to such issues as global health. In recognition of Ashoka Fellows’ response to critical public health needs, Ashoka takes this opportunity to raise awareness of their ground-breaking approaches and relentless commitment to creating a healthier world.
Victoria Hale, USA
Global Fellow
After a trip to India, where she witnessed the effects of neglected diseases on the rural poor, Victoria began rethinking her profession. She had worked as a pharmaceutical scientist, but was feeling the field had departed from the ideals of healing that originally drew her to it. It was then that she decided to start OneWorld Health, the first non-profit pharmaceutical company in the U.S. to bring effective new medicines to the market for a fraction of the usual cost for people in the developing world. Through OneWorld Health, drug companies can devote significant intellectual, human, and financial resources for drug development in country where labor costs are low, without incurring commercial risks. Victoria is bridging the interests of pharmaceutical companies, NGOs, local public health workers, and governments of developing countries who can collectively embrace the opportunity to provide health for all.
Amlan Ganguly, India
In the urban slums of India, where health service provision is often grossly inadequate, Amlan Ganguly has organized teams of local children to spread awareness about preventative health care, sanitation, and hygiene. Beyond promoting good health, Amlan’s model enables these children to take ownership of improving their communities and encourages them to become social leaders. Amlan’s organization, Prayasam, provides the children with information and first aid training for educational campaigns and partners them with adults to lobby municipal authorities for improvements to local infrastructure. Amlan’s program has already been hugely successful in reducing rates of malaria and diarrhea in slums in northern Calcutta, and he is rapidly spreading his project to other communities.
Fidela Ebuk, Nigeria
For her entire life, Fidela dreamt of becoming a nurse. While working in a hospital, however, she realized she could do more if she worked independently with rural women who were ill-served by the traditional health care system. Fidela is promoting community health in Nigeria by tapping into the investing potential and social capital inherent in the country's traditional women's savings groups. Her approach catalyzes poor communities to invest in, and take charge of, their health by reorienting the already existing savings infrastructure to adopt a pronounced health focus. As a result, beneficiaries raise their incomes and implement behavioral changes that result in better health and a higher quality of life.
Ramazan Salman, Germany
Why do Germany’s 12 million immigrants generally have worse health than average German citizens? Ramazan’s research has identified a strong correlation between immigrants’ health and their degree of integration into German life. Ramazan addresses this problem by training successful, well-adapted immigrants to become “health mediators” who then teach new immigrant communities about the German healthcare system and link them to appropriate, high quality public care. The discussion around health serves as a springboard for addressing other immigrant challenges, such as overcoming isolation, depression, cultural barriers and mistrust. On the other side of the equation, Ramazan trains German medical professionals to understand and better serve immigrantsRamazan’s program operates in Germany’s 24 largest cities; to date he has trained 1,000 mediators and reached around 60,000 immigrants.
Feliciano Reyna, Venezuela
Following the death of his partner from AIDS in 1994, Feliciano began to channel his personal experience into public action. Beginning with a pilot center in Caracas, Feliciano is building a network of AIDS community service centers throughout Venezuela that offers all aspects of AIDS education, prevention, and care. The centers bring people living with the virus into direct contact with those who are not infected, both to sensitize the public with respect to people with AIDS and to foster prevention through shared experiences. Through its awareness programs, Feliciano has already trained 273 educators and directly informed over 28,000 people about AIDS prevention and care.