Affordability and accessibility of healthcare remain the biggest challenges in developing nations.

In emerging nations access to affordable therapies and diagnostics for diseases like respiratory infections, malaria, tuberculosis, bacterial infections, HIV/AIDS are yet unresolved issues. In these counties vaccination for pediatric viral and bacterial diseases like polio, measles, diphtheria, and hepatitis B; use of vector control for diseases like malaria and dengue; community-based mass treatment for infections that can be cured by single-dose treatments, such as lymphatic filariasis and schistosomiasis; screening or case-finding, for example for tuberculosis, leprosy etc., are neglected areas in health care provision.

Affordable therapies and diagnostics for oncological, auto-immune disorders, neurological, gastrointestinal, and infectious diseases are still a distant promise. Management of these diseases will prove challenging and will need disruptive healthcare delivery innovations. Healthcare in developing countries have to go beyond being just available to being accessible and affordable.

The second area of high priority is the need for nutrition accountability in emerging nations. Food insecurity, hunger, and malnutrition affecting millions of children are not negotiable issues. Food security concerns combined with hunger, malnourishment and rising social inequities have given rise to new conflicts scenario. Improved nutrition is the core around which other societal goals revolve: better nutrition means strong communities ready to face future complexities. Nutrition should be at the centre of policies pursued in health, education, trade, investment, social protection and agriculture.

Addressing the challenges of climate change, rising long-term food prices, food insecurity will require increased food production without further damage to the environment. Accelerated investments in agricultural research and development will be crucial to supporting food production growth. Technology options are many, but transparent evidence-based information to support decisions on the potential of alternative technologies is relatively scarce. How do we achieve food security in a world of growing scarcity?

We seek to engage with all the stakeholders involved in health care delivery; eradication of malnutrition; food security, agriculture technologies and natural resource management to develop a knowledge platform.