Healthcare

GLOBAL INVESTOR 2.12 Editorial — 03
Photos: Martin Stollenwerk | Gerry Amstutz
Responsible for coordinating this issue:
Thomas C. Kaufmann joined Credit Suisse
Private Banking in 2006 as an equity
analyst for nanotechnology in the healthcare
sector. He is currently a senior equity
analyst responsible for global pharmaceuticals
and leads research on innovation,
one of Credit Suisse’s global megatrend
themes. Thomas has a Master of Science in
Biochemistry and a PhD in Biophysics, both
from the University of Basel, Switzerland.
Markus Stierli is Head of Thematic
Research within Private Banking Global
Research. His team focuses on longterm
investment strategies, including
sustainable investment and global
megatrends. Before joining Credit Suisse
in 2010, he taught at the University of
Zurich. Prior to that, he worked in market
risk management at UBS Investment
Bank. Markus holds a PhD in International
Relations from the University of Zurich.
Across the vast universe of modern global healthcare, probably the
single most important driver of change is information and communications
technology (ICT). Its impact may be slower and less obvious
than in fields such as entertainment or retailing, but it is gradually
revolutionizing healthcare. In this Global Investor, Denis Hochstrasser of
Geneva University Hospital and Hans Lehrach of the Max Planck
Institute explain how genomics is combined with other information to
create an avatar of a patient that can be computer-simulated to choose
the best treatment, as a computer model of a car or airplane can be
stress-tested. Eric Green of the US National Human Genome Research
Institute notes that the computer-driven development of genomics
and pharmacogenomics now forms the basis for treating asthma, AIDS
and some cardiovascular diseases. Turning to low-income countries,
S. Yunkap Kwankam of Global eHealth Consultants shows that text
messages are being used in African countries to collect and disseminate
data so as to direct midwives, doctors and medicines to the
right location at the right time, while José Gómez-Márquez at MIT
uses modern communications to help designers in low-income countries
produce innovative low-cost medical equipment. In the field of
mental health, where ICT is helping to raise awareness globally, Deborah
Wan Lai Yau of the World Federation of Mental Health explains her
pioneering work in China on rehabilitation via entrepreneurship, while
Ajay Mahal of Monash University and Victoria Fan of the US Center
for Global Development review mental health issues in India. Some of
these developments reduce costs, but many imply the need for more
funding. Naoki Ikegami of Tokyo’s Keio University explains how health
costs are controlled in Japan, while David E. Bloom and Michael Chu
of Harvard look at experience with privately funded healthcare in
low-income countries. To introduce all these themes, we begin with
an article by Bernardino Fantini of the University of Geneva, who looks
at the historical context, from some of the earliest work in connecting
diseases with specific causes (which allowed some of the simplest
but most powerful preventative measures, such as hand washing),
right through to the development of genomics.
Giles Keating, Head of Research for Private Banking and Asset Management
Global Investor received a gold medal at the 2012 BCP
(Best of Corporate Publishing) Awards – Europe’s most
important corporate publishing competition.