What I mean by catalytic philanthropy

We take chances in philanthropy: large gifts all over the world go to large ideas and? large visions. I must give credit to Bob Carter, our board member, for those words, which embody the spirit of the WHO Foundation and our approach to funding global health.

I can attest that intelligent philanthropy can stimulate significant change. It doesn't always require billions of dollars, but it does take deep coordination and commitment of both funds and expertise. In other words, catalytic philanthropy.

Catalytic philanthropy has reduced health costs and broadened health solutions, through business acumen and strategic funding. In South Africa? at the start of the 21st century,?an estimated one in 10 people was HIV-positive, leading to hundreds of thousands, including children, dying from AIDS-related illnesses.

Antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV were known to prolong life and were available in high-income countries but prohibitively expensive. It was Nelson Mandela’s vision that led the Clinton Health Access Initiative, Inc. to tackle this inequity by finding efficiencies in the manufacturing and sales of generic drugs. Together with the combined efforts of other philanthropic organizations, private backing and governments, they pushed down the price of a year’s treatment of antiretroviral drugs from US$10,000 to $60 per person. Philanthropists proved the concept that risk-averse investors and private companies needed. In essence, creating a snowball effect that we so often see in the start-up world.

Although philanthropists cannot match government spending, they can be agile, take risks, and often have a personal stake in the outcome. Once evidence is established, solutions can be scaled through that additional public or private investment to truly tackle the greatest challenges of our times.

"We take chances in philanthropy: large gifts all over the world go to large ideas and? large visions." - Bob Carter

Take tuberculosis (TB) as another example. TB claims over 4,000 lives daily, with many people dying of drug-resistant strains. From 1970 to 2020, only two new drugs for TB were introduced to the market. It was seen as a disease of poverty, and deemed a low investment priority. A calculated risk by the non-profit TB Alliance , backed by philanthropists and several governments, resulted in the drug Pretomanid. When combined as part of a treatment regime, it has cut the length of treatment (TB treatment takes months and many patients stop taking drugs once they feel better) and it has increased success rates, especially for patients with multi and extreme drug-resistant TB. The pharmaceutical firm Viatris agreed to cut the treatment course price by over a third, making a life-saving treatment much more widely available.

Or look to the Wolbachia project, my current favorite testament to philanthropy's transformative potential in public health. Wolbachia is a naturally occurring bacteria that inhibits the ability of female Aedes Aegypti mosquitoes to transmit diseases like Dengue Fever, Zika, Chikunungya and Yellow Fever. When the World Mosquito Program (WMP) , a non-profit organization, proposed leveraging this bacteria to curtail mosquito-borne diseases, it was catalytic philanthropic funding from the Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust that enabled the early-stage, high-risk research.

This proof of concept attracted further public and private investment, allowing the initiative to scale. As of today, the Wolbachia method is deployed in 14?countries, and the rate of Dengue Fever transmission has dropped significantly. This progress was set in motion by the calculated risk philanthropists took, showcasing the transformative potential of philanthropy in health innovation.

Our globalized challenges lend themselves to radical collaboration and pioneering approaches to solving humankind’s greatest challenges. We seek out this spirit of catalytic philanthropy every day at the WHO Foundation .

Navigating the intricate crossroads of impactful philanthropy can be challenging. This is where our team, alongside our partners, steps in. We guide philanthropists through these complexities, aligning their goals with meaningful results.

The next great collaboration may well be underway or perhaps that story is yet to be written. I’d love to hear what others think are the priorities for philanthropy’s next big bets.