Health

Healthcare discussions are deeply personal and often contentious. Meridian’s years of experience brokering discussions among people with widely opposing viewpoints have taught us that solutions are possible nonetheless—if the right conditions are fostered. 

Our team has managed collaborative problem-solving efforts on a range of health-related subjects, including:

• intellectual property rights for medicines 
• pandemic preparedness and planning 
• healthcare worker shortages 
• aflatoxins (natural compounds, caused by mold, that have widespread negative impacts on health, trade, and food security in Africa)
• health care coverage for the uninsured in the United States
• human health effects of antibiotic use in livestock  

To address these kinds of complex challenges, we see opportunities to connect the health sector with partners in food, agriculture, and trade. For example, transnational food safety requires coordination across borders and among producers, processors, retailers, and regulators. Obesity prevention requires a similarly collaborative effort to make nutritious food available to the end consumer, involving a complex network of actors: 

• researchers
• food vendors
• policy makers
• businesses
• school systems 
• healthcare providers
• childcare professionals 

Finding solutions to these kinds of cross-sector, interconnected problems is one of Meridian’s specialties. Participants in our health-related projects include members of the pharmaceutical industry, insurance companies, government agencies, health care professionals, consumer advocacy groups, and research scientists. Together, our partners have identified priority areas for action, conducted exercises to prepare for emergencies, articulated principles for new models of care, and developed action plans to achieve shared goals.