A Prescription for progress ecosystem event


Maternity Matters:

Leveraging digital solutions at scale to deliver
quality maternal health care within UHC


MARCH 3, 2021

11 a.m. ET | 5 p.m. CET

Register

In partnership with

Devex MSD for Mothers Bay Area Global Health Alliance

Livestream

About the Event


Over the past 18 months, MSD for Mothers and Devex have engaged in a partnership — Maternity Matters: Funding the future — to explore how donor funding is leveraging the private sector to meet needs related to reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health, or RMNCAH, and how that collaboration can help bridge the $33 billion annual financing gap in providing associated services, which could prevent the deaths of an estimated 24 million to 38 million women, children, and adolescents by 2030.

One area of investment that stakeholders have identified as key for bridging the RMNCAH gap is data and digital technology, which has further been brought to the fore by the challenge of meeting the needs of women, children, and adolescents as the COVID-19 pandemic continues across the globe. Many donors have shared examples of digital investments that have sought to address these challenges and shown demonstrable impact but often failed to scale or be adopted as best practices.

On March 3, Devex, in partnership with MSD for Mothers and the Bay Area Global Health Alliance, will convene a virtual roundtable on identifying the current barriers to accelerating the implementation of digital innovations for maternal health in low- and middle-income countries, as well as potential solutions for better efficiency in collaboration within the space.

As an ecosystem event of Prescription for Progress, the roundtable will bring together key stakeholders, including global multilateral agencies, technology companies, and governments, to discuss some of these barriers. Together, we’ll explore the role of governments in creating enabling environments but also ensuring projects achieve the scale needed to reach underserved mothers.

Save your Spot on Wednesday, Mar. 3 at 11 a.m. ET | 5 p.m. CET

Agenda


8:00 a.m. PST

Welcome remarks with Raj Kumar, Devex President & Editor-in-Chief, and Sara Anderson, Bay Area Global Health Alliance Executive Director

8:05 a.m. PST

Spotlight Segment

Speakers:
-Bernardo Mariano Junior, WHO
-Moderator: Ben Plumley, Hunuvat Global

8:20 a.m. PST

Panel discussion

Speakers:
-Ms Njide Ndili, PharmAccess Foundation
-Ms Natasha Sunderji, Accenture
-Dr. Nosa Orobaton, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

9:05 a.m. PST

Closing remarks with Raj Kumar, Devex President & Editor-in-Chief, and Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet, MSD for Mothers Lead & Executive Director

Speakers


Sara Anderson

Sara Anderson

Executive Director, Bay Area Global Health Alliance

In January 2020, Sara Anderson became the first executive director of the Bay Area Global Health Alliance. The Alliance is now a global health community with more than 50 members from across the sectors -- academic institutions, NGOs and tech, biotech and other private sector companies -- all committed to advancing global health innovation, equity and impact. Sara has more than 20 years of extensive experience in advocacy, international development and communications. Prior to the Alliance, Sara worked for ReSurge International and Stanford University's Center for International Security and Cooperation.

Mary-Ann Etiebet

Mary-Ann Etiebet

Lead & Executive Director, MSD for Mothers

Dr. Etiebet has two decades of experience improving healthcare outcomes for vulnerable populations and transforming healthcare delivery at the frontlines. As the Lead and Executive Director, Dr. Etiebet is responsible for successfully implementing a robust set of innovative maternal health programs and high-impact partnerships that integrate the private sector’s invention and expertise to design, deploy and scale solutions that empower women, equip health providers and strengthen health systems.

Bernardo Mariano Junior

Bernardo Mariano Junior

CIO & Director Digital Health and Innovation, World Health Organization

Bernardo Mariano Junior is the Chief Information Officer at the World Health Organization. In this role, he is responsible for coordinating WHO’s digital health vision and strategy. He leads and oversees all aspects of information technology, data security, and enterprise applications, ensuring WHO is advancing its digital capabilities to deliver its global health goals effectively. Prior to joining WHO, Mr. Mariano was the Senior Regional Adviser to the Director General at International Organization for Migration(IOM), where he was responsible for strategic oversight of IOM’s activities within the Sub Sahara Africa region and advised on emerging trends and developments including regional and national policy initiatives.

Njide Ndili

Njide Ndili

Nigeria Country Director, PharmAccess Foundation

Njide Ndili is the Country Director for PharmAccess Foundation Nigeria Office. In this role she has oversight of all in country activities including supporting demand side financing, supply side quality improvement and activities to improve access to finance. She has over 20 years experience in the healthcare industry in the United States and Nigeria.

Dr. Nosa Orobaton

Dr. Nosa Orobaton

Senior Advisor, Health, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Africa Region Office, Johannesburg

Nosa Orobaton is Senior Advisor, Health, Africa Region Office, at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, with responsibility for implementation research capacity building in Africa and enabling the scale up of proven MNCH innovations via country primary health care systems and levers in Africa. He is a medical doctor with specialization in public health and health systems management, and has worked in clinical medicine and public health for 38 years. Prior to joining the Foundation, he was Director of Operations at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He also worked as Deputy Executive Director at WHO’s Health Metrics Network. Dr Orobaton has worked in Africa, Asia and South and Central America, and has published several papers on public health. He holds a medical degree from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, master’s and doctoral degrees in public health from Johns Hopkins University, and an MBA from University of Maryland University College, USA.

Ben Plumley

Ben Plumley

Senior Advisor, Bay Area Global Health Alliance; Founder, Hunuvat Global

Ben lives his passion – finding creative public private partnerships to expand the benefits of biomedical advances for everyone, no matter who they are or where they live. It’s not just good business sense, access to health is a foundation for secure and prosperous global communities. Ben has brought his 25 years of experience in non-profits, the private sector and the UN to host A Shot In The Arm Podcast, a weekly look at global health and human rights – now into its second season, and available wherever you get your podcasts, as well as www.ashotinthearmpodcast.com

Natasha Sunderji

Natasha Sunderji

Global Health Lead, Accenture Development Partnerships

Natasha Sunderji is the Global Health Lead for Accenture Development Partnerships – an innovative business unit at Accenture that works to address the world’s social, economic and environmental issues. Natasha has 15+ years of experience advising multinational companies, NGOs, donors, and multilateral agencies on growth strategy, business model design, digital health, and cross sector partnerships. She has worked with leading digital health implementers to design patient centric solutions, supported health impact investors to develop commercialization strategies for their portfolio grantees, and advised policy makers on the regulations and investments needed to create robust digital health ecosystems.

Raj Kumar

Raj Kumar

President & Editor-in-Chief, Devex

Raj Kumar is a media leader and former humanitarian council chair for the World Economic Forum and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He is the author of the book "The Business of Changing the World," a go-to primer on the ideas, people, and technology disrupting the aid industry.