Anand Reddi

{{Short description|Global health policy and public health advocate}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Anand Reddi

| image = Mr. Reddi 2015 Brazil.jpg|

| alt =

| caption =

| birth_date =

| birth_place = Maryland, US

| nationality = American

| occupation = Global health policy specialist, public health advocate, biotech executive

| education = University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, University of Colorado School of Medicine

| known_for = Advocacy in global HIV/AIDS treatment and health systems strengthening

| awards = Fulbright Scholar, American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award

| website =

}}

Anand Reddi is a global health policy expert, public health advocate and biopharma executive. Reddi works on health system strengthening initiatives with a focus on global health, implementation science, health financing and public health advocacy.{{Cite news |last=Banning-Lover |first=Rachel |date=2017-07-07 |title=How to make global universal healthcare a reality |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jul/07/how-to-make-global-universal-healthcare-a-reality |access-date=2024-12-01 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}{{cite web |last1=Liu |first1=Richard |date=19 November 2020 |title=Atlantic Dialogues Talks 2020: Health Capacities as a New Power Instrument |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zlzemV5atNM&t=2s |publisher=The Atlantic Dialogues: Policy Center for the New South}} A major focus of scholarship is global HIV scale-up including the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).{{Cite web |last=October 2011 |first=Ivy Mungcal // 18 |date=2011-10-18 |title=Anand Reddi: PEPFAR at Risk Should Mitt Romney Become US President |url=https://www.devex.com/news/anand-reddi-pepfar-at-risk-should-mitt-romney-become-us-president-76296 |access-date=2024-11-30 |website=Devex |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2011-09-13 |title=The Need For A New AIDS Strategy |url=https://www.mic.com/articles/1625/the-need-for-a-new-aids-strategy |access-date=2024-12-01 |website=Mic |language=en}} Since 2014, his focus has shifted to public-private global health partnerships to support access to essential medicines between by the biopharma private sector.{{cite news |last1=Nuki |first1=Paul |last2=Townsley |first2=Simon |date=18 July 2018 |title=HIV and Aids in Africa has a new adversary – God and big pharma |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/hiv-and-aids-in-africa/ |publisher=The Telegraph}}{{cite news |last1=Ratcliffe |first1=Rebecca |date=22 July 2018 |title=Biker nun on a mission to free Tanzania from grip of HIV |url=https://www.devex.com/news/obama-promises-to-step-up-aids-fight-68627 |work=The Guardian}} He served on the board of directors of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation from 2009 to 2011 and was a founding member of the board of directors of the Bay Area Global Health Alliance.{{Cite web |title=HR Strategy Forum (HRSF) - Speaking out on Social/Political issues: CHRO’s role in working with CEO |url=https://hrstrategyforum.org/event-4569004 |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=hrstrategyforum.org |language=en}}

Early life and education

Reddi pursued his undergraduate studies at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and a medical degree at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.{{cite web |title=Anand Reddi, Director of Hepion Pharmaceuticals Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 |url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1583771/000110465923053093/tm232024d1_def14a.htm |publisher=UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION}} He was a Fulbright Scholar to KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, focusing on pediatric antiretroviral scale-up under the research mentorship of Hoosen Coovadia at the PEPFAR funded Sinikithemba HIV/AIDS clinic at McCord Zulu Hospital.{{cite journal |date=17 March 2017 |title=Preliminary outcomes of a paediatric highly active antiretroviral therapy cohort from KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa |journal=BMC Pediatrics |volume=7 |issue=12 |page=13 |doi=10.1186/1471-2431-7-13 |pmc=1847430 |pmid=17367540 |doi-access=free}}

Global Health

= HIV Implementation Science =

In the early 2000s it was uncertain if the provision of antiretroviral therapy in resource limited settings such as Southern Africa was feasible.{{cite news |last1=Herbert |first1=Bob |title=In America; Refusing To Save Africans |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/11/opinion/in-america-refusing-to-save-africans.html |work=The New York Times |date=11 June 2001}} Reddi's research documented that antiretroviral therapy is effective despite the challenges of a resource limited setting.{{cite news |last1=Purvis |first1=Katherine |title=How do we increase the HIV response with limited funds? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2016/sep/29/live-qa-how-do-we-increase-the-hiv-response-with-limited-funds |access-date=6 July 2024 |work=The Guardian}}{{cite news |last1=Banning-Lover |first1=Rachel |title=What is the best model to bring healthcare to all? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jun/23/live-qa-what-is-the-best-model-to-bring-healthcare-to-all |access-date=19 June 2024 |work=The Guardian}} These data were important in providing implementation experience for HIV scale-up initiatives advanced by PEPFAR and The Global Fund.{{Cite journal |last1= Leeper|first1= Sarah C.|last2= Reddi|first2= Anand|date=2010-09-10 |title=United States global health policy: HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health, and The President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) |url=https://journals.lww.com/00002030-201009100-00001 |journal=AIDS |language=en |volume=24 |issue=14 |pages=2145–2149 |doi=10.1097/QAD.0b013e32833cbb41 |issn=0269-9370 |pmid=20606571}}{{cite news |last1=Judem |first1=Emily |title=An invisible issue: The presidential campaign and HIV/AIDS |url=https://theworld.org/stories/2016/07/31/invisible-issue-presidential-campaign-and-hivaids |publisher=The World Radio Program}}

= U.S. HIV Global Health Policy =

In May 2009, the Obama administration's introduced a global health initiative that de-prioritized global HIV funding by prioritizing funding for maternal and child health programs.{{Cite journal |last1=Bendavid |first1=Eran |last2=Miller |first2=Grant |date=2010-08-18 |title=The US Global Health Initiative: Informing Policy With Evidence |journal=JAMA |language= |volume=304 |issue=7 |pages=791–792 |doi=10.1001/jama.2010.1189 |issn=0098-7484 |pmc=3816172 |pmid=20716743}}{{cite news |last1=D'Almeida |first1=Kanya |title=Obama AIDS Plan Stumbles over Funding |url=https://www.globalissues.org/news/2011/02/15/8540 |access-date=19 June 2024 |publisher=Global Issues |agency=Inter Press Service}} Ezekiel Emanuel, the initiative’s architect and a special advisor to President Obama on health policy, argued that PEPFAR “is not the best use of international health funding” and “fails to address many of the developing world’s most serious health issues.”{{cite web |title=U.S. Global Health Policy: HIV/AIDS at a Crossroads Initial Accomplishments Threatened by Policy Changes |url=https://medschool.cuanschutz.edu/deans-office/cu-med-today/featuresarchives/anand-reddi |access-date=6 July 2024 |website=University of Colorado School of Medicine |publisher=CU Medicine Today}}{{Cite journal |last1=Denny |first1=Colleen C. |last2=Emanuel |first2=Ezekiel J. |date=2008-11-05 |title=US Health Aid Beyond PEPFAR: The Mother & Child Campaign |url=http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.2008.556 |journal=JAMA |language=en |volume=300 |issue=17 |pages=2048–2051 |doi=10.1001/jama.2008.556 |pmid=18984893 |issn=0098-7484}} Reddi challenged Dr. Emanuel's position on PEPFAR by arguing maternal and child health need not be framed in opposition to PEPFAR.{{cite news |last1= |first1= |date=21 June 2010 |title=United States Global Health Policy: HIV/AIDS Treatment Funding At Risk Under President Obama |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/united-states-global-heal_b_654002 |work=The Huffington Post}}{{cite news |last1=Khan |first1=Azmat |title=What Is President Obama's Track Record on HIV/AIDS? |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/article/what-is-president-obamas-track-record-on-hivaids/ |publisher=Frontline (PBS) |date=19 July 2012}}{{cite news |last1=Mungcal |first1=Ivy |title=Eric Goosby, Bill Clinton Defend Obama's AIDS Funding Decisions |url=https://www.devex.com/news/eric-goosby-bill-clinton-defend-obama-s-aids-funding-decisions-68608 |publisher=Devex |date=22 July 2010}} Reddi and Archbishop Desmond Tutu alongside other HIV advocates rebutted Emanuel's arguments that resulted in the restoration of $366 million for antiretroviral scale-up to Uganda in 2010.{{Cite news |last=Tutu |first=Desmond |date=2010-07-21 |title=Opinion {{!}} Obama's Overdue AIDS Bill |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/21/opinion/21tutu.html |access-date=2024-08-12 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}{{cite news |last1=Mungcal |first1=Ivy |title=Obama Promises to Step Up AIDS Fight |url=https://www.devex.com/news/obama-promises-to-step-up-aids-fight-68627 |publisher=Devex |date=23 July 2010}} The opinion pieces in The Huffington Post, The New York Times and The Washington Post facilitated the movement to drive the Obama administrations' reversal on global HIV funding.{{cite news |date=1 Nov 2010 |title=Aids: Time to Refocus |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/02/health/02letters-AIDSTIMETORE_LETTERS.html |work=The New York Times}}{{cite news |date=3 August 2010 |title=AIDS/HIV funding must be a priority for the U.S. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/19/AR2011011906414.html |newspaper=The Washington Post}}

= HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis Access =

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) launched a campaign against the Food and Drug Administration review of Truvada for use as a HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) drug.{{cite news |title=AHF to Gilead: "No Magic Pill" Ads Warn against AIDS Drug as HIV Prevention |url=https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20110309006414/en/AHF-Gilead-%E2%80%9CNo-Magic-Pill%E2%80%9D-Ads-Warn |publisher=AIDS Healthcare Foundation |date=9 March 2011}} Reddi resigned from the Board of Directors of AHF over their opposition to HIV PrEP writing: "AHF’s media campaign against FDA review of PrEP is myopic, blinded by its determination to derail a promising new medication."{{cite news|title=Moving Forward on FDA Review of HIV Prevention Drugs |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hiv-prevention-drugs-fda-review_b_1070511 |work=The Huffington Post |date=2 Nov 2011}} The resulting advocacy was validated by the 2015 decision by the World Health Organization to recommended that people at substantial risk of HIV infection should be offered tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF)-based oral PrEP as an additional HIV prevention option.{{cite web |last1=World Health Organization |title=Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) |url=https://www.who.int/teams/global-hiv-hepatitis-and-stis-programmes/hiv/prevention/pre-exposure-prophylaxis |website=Global HIV Program: PrEP |access-date=12 June 2024}}

Reddi also advanced digital health tools to enhance patient access to PrEP including the development and launch of Gilead Sciences' PrEP Hub, a digital platform aimed at improving access and public health resources to HIV prevention.{{cite news |title=Pharma companies are capitalizing on Covid-19 restrictions to promote unbranded campaigns |url=https://www.pharmaceutical-technology.com/features/pharma-covid-digital-space/ |access-date=23 July 2024 |publisher=Pharmaceutical Technology Review}}{{cite news |last1=Bulik |first1=Beth Snyder |date=28 Oct 2020 |title=BI, Gilead execs highlight value of disease awareness campaigns—particularly during the pandemic |url=https://www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/bi-gilead-execs-highlight-value-disease-awareness-campaigns-bumped-up-during-covid-19 |publisher=Fierce Pharma}}

= Human capital contracts =

To address healthcare worker shortages in resource-limited settings, Reddi proposed using human capital contracts inspired by Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences winner Milton Friedman.{{cite news |last1= |first1= |last2= |first2= |title=Healthcare Reform: Solving the Medical Student Debt Crisis Through Human Capital Contracts |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/healthcare-reform-solving_b_874651 |work=The Huffington Post}}{{cite journal |last1=Weinstein |first1=Louis |last2=Wolfe |first2=Honor |date=1 July 2010 |title=A unique solution to solve the pending medical school tuition crisis |url=https://www.ajog.org/article/S0002-9378(09)02139-5/fulltext |journal=American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology |volume=203 |issue=1 |pages=19.e1–19.e3 |doi=10.1016/j.ajog.2009.11.019 |pmid=20035918}} Under this model, an investor—such as a donor nation, foundation, or global health initiative—would fund a student’s medical training in exchange for 10 years of service in government or NGO clinics within their home country. Medical licenses would be tied to this commitment, and a multilateral agreement could curb migration during the service period to address human capital flight or “brain drain.”{{cite web |title=Global Health Service Corps Essential To Improve African Health Systems, Achieve 'AIDS-Free Generation' |url=https://www.kff.org/news-summary/global-health-service-corps-essential-to-improve-african-health-systems-achieve-aids-free-generation/ |publisher=Kaiser Family Foundation}}{{cite journal |date=2012 |title=Human capital contracts for global health: a plan to increase the number of physicians in resource limited settings |journal=AIDS |volume=26 |issue=15 |pages=1979–1980 |doi=10.1097/QAD.0b013e32835857d4 |pmid=22992581}}

= HIV Test & Treat Implementation Science =

Reddi led a major HIV Test & Treat initiative in Shinyanga, Tanzania, partnering with Gilead Sciences, The Vatican, the Tanzanian government, and NGOs like Doctors with Africa CUAMM and Joep Lange's Amsterdam Institute of Global Health.{{cite news |last1=Tanzania |first1=World Health Organization |title=The Tanzania Catholic Church launches the Test and Treat Project |url=https://www.afro.who.int/news/tanzania-catholic-church-launches-test-and-treat-project |access-date=12 June 2024 |publisher=WHO Tanzania}} The project reached over 300,000 people through decentralized outreach, linking those testing positive to care. Between May 2017 and June 2019, 255,329 HIV tests were conducted, with a positivity rate of 1.2%.{{cite journal |last1=Martelli |first1=Giulia |last2=Van Duffel |first2=Lukas |last3=Kwezi |first3=Edith Cosmas |last4=Cavallin |first4=Francesco |last5=Salehe |first5=Idd Amiri |last6=Torelli |first6=Giovanni F. |last7=Putoto |first7=Giovanni |last8=Hermans |first8=Sabine |last9=Rinke De Wit |first9=Tobias F. |last10=Pozniak |first10=Anton |date=2022 |title=Community- and facility-based HIV testing interventions in northern Tanzania: Midterm results of Test & Treat Project |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=17 |issue=4 |pages=e0266870 |bibcode=2022PLoSO..1766870M |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0266870 |pmc=9004748 |pmid=35413074 |doi-access=free}}

Awards

Reddi received the Thomas Jefferson Award from the University of Colorado, the Atlantic Dialogues Emerging Leader Award, the American Medical Association Foundation Leadership Award and the Fulbright Scholarship to South Africa for his contributions in global health policy and HIV/AIDS treatment and advocacy.{{cite news |title=Achievements in academics, service recognized with CU's 2013 Jefferson Award |url=https://connections.cu.edu/stories/achievements-academics-service-recognized-cu%E2%80%99s-2013-jefferson-award |access-date=7 July 2024 |publisher=University of Colorado}}

References

{{reflist}}

External Links

{{Scholia|Q48436054}}

{{Scholia|Q4751276}}

  • [https://www.huffpost.com/author/anand-reddi Contributions to Huffington Post]
  • [https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Anand+Reddi&sort=pubdate&size=50 Scientific Publications indexed on PUBMED]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reddi, Anand}}

Category:HIV/AIDS researchers

Category:University of Michigan alumni

Category:University of Colorado School of Medicine alumni

Category:American scientists

Category:Scientists from Maryland

Category:21st-century scientists

Category:Living people

Category:Year of birth missing (living people)

Category:American HIV/AIDS activists

Category:American health activists