The ColaLife Virtual Advisory Board

There has been a lot of work going on behind the scenes to put together a ‘virtual advisory board’ of well known names to add further credibility to ColaLife and help us move from an incredibly successful campaign to an organisation that can help put together the unlikely alliances that are going to be required for us to achieve our vision. Getting the first person to commit was always going to be the big challenge. So our sincere thanks go to Don Nutbeam who has put himself forward as our first ‘virtual advisory board’ member.


Don Nutbeam
Professor of Public Health
University of Southampton

Professor Nutbeam said:

“ColaLife offers a creative solution to the distribution problems that prevent the delivery of proven solutions to enduring health problems among some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations. For Coca-Cola it represents an outstanding example of corporate social responsibility.”

Professor Nutbeam has been a long term supporter of ColaLife. You will see from this video that he shares the ColaLife philosophy and our attitude to big business. When this was filmed (June 2009), Don was Honourary Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney. He talks about ColaLife in the context of ‘making the most of what is already there’ to improve public health, or ‘going with the grain’. He says:

“I’ve been working . . . with a campaign to try to persuade Coca-Cola who have frankly the best distribution network in Africa to use their distribution network to deliver essential medicines. They can deliver Coca-Cola to pretty much any corner of Africa and we in public health seem to be miserable at achieving the same goal so why not try to work with the grain.”

Brilliant.

Professor Nutbeam’s summary boigraphy reads like this:

DON NUTBEAM PhD FFPH

Don Nutbeam is currently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Southampton and a Professor of Public Health. His career has spanned positions in universities, government, health services and an independent research institute. From 2003-9 he was in senior academic roles in the University of Sydney, and prior to this he was Head of Public Health in the UK Department of Health. His research interests include public health intervention research in schools and communities as well as studies of health literacy, and adolescent health behaviour. He has published widely on these topics. He has substantial international experience in both developing and developed countries, working as an advisor and consultant for the World Health Organisation over a 20 year period, and as consultant and team leader in projects for the World Bank.

Onwards and upwards.

Comments

  1. Report of the CSIS Commission on Smart Global Health Policy released today March 18, 2010

    Excellent panel discussions, including questions to

    https://www.smartglobalhealth.org/live

    CSIS Commission on Smart Global Hea lth Policy

    Cochairs
    William J. Fallon (Cochair), Admiral, U.S. Navy (Retired)
    Helene D. Gayle (Cochair), President & CEO, CARE

    COMMISSIONERS
    Rhona S. Applebaum, Vice President, The Coca-Cola Company
    Christopher J. Elias, President & CEO, PATH
    Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN)
    William H. Frist, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader
    Representative Kay Granger (R-TX)
    John J. Hamre, President & CEO, CSIS; former U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense
    Peter Lamptey, President, Public Health Programs, Family Health International
    Margaret G. McGlynn, former President, Global Vaccines & Infectious Diseases, Merck and Co.
    Michael Merson, Director, Global Health Institute, Duke University
    Patricia E. Mitchell, President & CEO, The Paley Center for Media
    Surya N. Mohapatra, Chairman, President & CEO, Quest Diagnostics, Inc.
    Thomas R. Pickering, Vice Chairman, Hills & Company
    Peter Piot, Director, Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London; former Director of UNAIDS
    Karen Remley, Commissioner, Virginia Department of Health
    Judith Rodin, President, The Rockefeller Foundation
    Joe Rospars, Founding Partner, Blue State Digital
    Robert E. Rubin, Cochairman, Council on Foreign Relations; former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury
    Senator Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH)
    Donna E. Shalala, President, University of Miami; former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services
    Senator Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
    Debora L. Spar, President, Barnard College
    Rex Tillerson, Chairman & CEO, Exxon Mobil Corporation
    Rajeev Venkayya, Director, Global Health Delivery, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

  2. Excellent panel discussions, including questions to private sector experts.

    See : Measurement, Accountability, Innovation panel question asked by Dr Venkayya to Dr. Applebaum.

Trackbacks

  1. Simon Berry says:

    Chuffed that Prof Don Nutbeam has stepped forward to be the first member of ColaLife's virtual advisory board. https://tinyurl.com/yf99om3

  2. […] world have been very generous with their time and support in 2010. These include Dr Prashant Yadav, Dr Don Nutbeam, Dr Ian Goldman, Phillip Lee MP and Rohit Ramchandani. We also received a message of support from […]