Today’s lesson was on the impact of technology on the biobusiness industry. The first thing that struck me was how big biobusiness really is. For example, things like beauty products. I never knew that they can actually be counted as a part of this industry. I think many people probably also have this common misconception that biobusiness is only about healthcare and biotechnology. And who would have expected this industry to generate so much of the world’s GDP.
Unfortunately, despite all the breakthroughs we have made in the health sector, once again, the people who truly need them are the ones deprived of them. It is simply appalling that these people’s lives are sacrificed just because some corporations want to make as much money as possible. And it seems that the bigger the corporations, the worse this problem is. Prof mentioned that the huge ones are unwilling to provide much needed medicine to the poor unless they are promised at least billions worth of profit. Yet, these are also the very same corporations that can truly make a difference because of their size and available resources and talent.
Another major problem hindering the maximization of biobusiness’ potential is the lack of proper change management. Even at the grassroots level with something as simple as flu vaccine, better change management is needed. It is just disgusting to think that simply because some doctors want to continue making money, they refuse their patients vaccines and consequently, their patients’ rights to permanent good health. Much change management is still needed in the health sectors to ensure that such problems can be eradicated because after all, shouldn’t technology’s prowess be harnessed for improving our standards of living?
I think one method that can be employed to solve these problems is to make information regarding things like medicines and vaccines widely available through the internet. This way, the problem of asymmetric information can be minimized and when patients understand that a flu vaccine exist, they can request for it and thus, no longer be at the mercy of their physician’s less than honourable plans to generate as much revenue from them as possible. Given more time, I would have liked to discuss such solutions more.
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