Pharmacy on a Bicycle Innovative Solutions for Global Health and Poverty

Despite $21 billion spent on health-related projects, every year millions of people in poor countries die from diseases that are easy and inexpensive to prevent or cure. We know exactly what these people need, we just don't know how to get it to them effectively. People are dying not because we can't solve a medical problem but because we can't solve a logistics problem. The solution is a new kind of bottom-up health care that is delivered at the source. We need micro-clinics, micro-pharmacies, and micro-entrepreneurs located in the remote, hard-to-reach communities they serve. By building a new model that "scales down" to train and incentivize health care workers in their own villages and towns, we can create an army of health professionals who can prevent tragedy at a fraction of the cost of top-down bureaucratic programs. The key is to unleash the same forces of innovation and entrepreneurship that work in first-world business cultures, and to train, aid, and incubate health workers on site. The book is filled with practical solutions for governments, NGOs, and local and global businesses. It also contains examples of dozens of exemplary programs on the ground that are implementing these innovative solutions and saving lives.

Eric G. Bing, MD, PhD, MBA, is a Harvard-educated physician who has created and managed innovative health programs throughout Africa, the Caribbean, and Latin America for over two decades. He is a senior fellow and the director for global health at the George W. Bush Institute and professor of global health at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas.
Marc J. Epstein is a distinguished research professor of management at Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University. Previously a professor at Harvard and Stanford, Dr. Epstein is the author of many books and articles on innovative approaches to improving businesses and nonprofit organizations. He works in Asia, Latin America, and Africa and trains students in entrepreneurial solutions to global health and poverty.

Preface
Introduction Why Pharmacy on a Bicycle
Part 1 The Prescription
1 Saving Millions
2 Ideas in Action: Innovation and Entrepreneurship
3 A Shift in Perspective: Task Shifting to Save More
4 Tipping the Scales: Scaling Up to Save Lives
Part 2 IMPACTS in Motion
5 The Warmth of a Mother’s Touch: Maternal and Child Health
6 A Drop of Vinegar: Solutions for Infectious Diseases
7 The Elephants in the Room: Noncommunicable Diseases
Part 3 Moving Forward
8 Getting There from Here: Priorities, Plans, and Progress
9 Busting Barriers: Heeding the Call
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Authors