6th lesson

Brief Overview/Summary
We discussed about biobusiness and have 3 presenters introducing topics such as the use of technology in athletics and the accompanying ethical issues, the use of cloning as well as the development of electronic skin. For the sixth lesson, we started off by watching a video by Microsoft regarding the integration of smart systems in the healthcare sector.

Interesting Observations and Ideas

One thing that caught my attention was the multi-purpose card shown in the first video, with 1 smart card taking the functions of credit cards, health cares, ID cards, which the user can select before usage. With 1 card doing every single function, there will no longer be a need for so many card holders in our wallets. Now isn’t that a great invention! Moreover, doctors will be able to video communicate with patients from their homes, and patients can log in data of their exercise progress and check their health status on their own, with computers calculating all the data and churning out simple and comprehensive graphs. Also envisioned in the future is a highly intelligent healthcare system that can alert patients to timings to consume their daily doses of medicine, as well as one that can identify different medicines.

Key Takeaways

Prof continued to talk about biobusiness proper, and how in reality, there is a time lag before biobusiness can impact mankind. Loosely defined, biobusiness is about using plant animal and cellular materials to generate new products. Such a time lag comes about because from innovation to testing to passing through regulations, each stage requires a period of around 5-10 years. First off, the innovation and research into new technology. Next up, the rigorous testing of the technology to make sure it is indeed safe for human usage and that there are few or no side effects. And lastly, the technology has to be patented and go through regulation to make sure that the technology cannot be used for illegal means.

We then discussed about the trend of deaths caused by chronic and communicable diseases. The per capita of a certain region is actually inversely proportional to the proportion of people dying from communicable diseases instead of chronic diseases. I believe that diseases of deprivation, e.g. TB, are likely to become less significant over time as countries get richer.

Issues for Further Discussion

From the discussion of Reading 4, Prof said that in Singapore, the pharmacy and clinic run together as a single operation i.e. doctors run their own pharmacies. I truly think that this is a great system. I had been to India, and during the trip, I was unfortunate enough to fall sick and had to receive medical attention. That was the first country that I have received medical attention where the clinic and pharmacy were in different locations, and I was not pleased at all. I was used to the convenience of receiving my medicine immediately after my visit to the doctor. Moreover, the pharmacy was a few streets away from the clinic. A sick person would not appreciate having to walk even further for his medicine, because a sick person needs rest, not more exercise! Thankfully, we have this system in Singapore, though as Prof mentioned, there is still some way to go before the healthcare systems in Singapore are integrated with one another into one single smart and cohesive system.

From reading 6, I found out that there are already innovative financing mechanisms that increase the stability and predictability of financing, which allows health policymakers to engage in long-term planning. Examples include the International Finance Facility for Immunization, which uses the bond markets to raise capital for children’s vaccines. I think this is an absolutely wonderful idea, using financial markets to raise funds for social good. There are people who are interested in investing and growing their money while at the same time doing good, and these bonds allow them to do just that. Although the returns are lower than those for corporate or treasury bonds, the investor will not mind smaller gains if the money is used for the purpose of doing good.

Ratings

Overall, I will rate the lesson a 8.9/10 because of the lively discussion on issues that I really have an interest in, that is, ways to alleviate poverty. The 3 presenters were very enthusiastic about their topics, which led to a robust discussion on their relevant topics.