On 19 May 2010, Global Health Progress (GHP) and the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) hosted a luncheon at the Vieux Bois in Geneva on the margins of the 63rd World Health Assembly for a targeted audience of over 90 persons including Ministers of Health, Ambassadors and senior officials from the Africa. According to the website of Global Health Progress, an ‘industry-wide collaboration of research-based biopharmaceutical companies and their partners to improve global health’, Ministers of Health from Cameroon, the Gambia, Haiti, Mozambique, Niger and Swaziland attended in addition to officials from Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Cote d’Ivoire, Eritrea, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, the United States of America (Nils Daulaire) and Zimbabwe. The Vieux Bois is conveniently located just outside the UN Palais des Nations, the site of the World Health Assembly. Participants enjoyed a set menu of a salad of mixed greens, country-style chicken breast with 6 pieces of gnocchi, cheesecake and complementary wine and coffee. Although it is unclear how much this lunch set back the GHP and the IFPMA, one should note that a business lunch at Vieux Bois costs anywhere from 60 Swiss francs to 65 Swiss francs (not including beverages).
The GHP/IFPMA luncheon focused on ‘Models of Public-Private Partnerships in Africa: Identifying What Works’. Featured speakers included Dr. Sam Zaramba, former Director-General of Health Services of Uganda and outgoing chair of the WHO Executive Board, Ms. Phangisile Mtshali, Director of the Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation, Eduardo Pisani, Director General, IFPMA and Mr. Andy Wilson, Vice President of the Abbott Fund Tanzania. Mtshale’s presentation featured BMS’ ‘Secure the Future Program’ and Wilson presented on the Abbott Fund’s Partnership with the Government of Tanzania.