Institute For The Future

Health costs continue to skyrocket in industrialized countries. Populations are living longer and are subject to a greater number of chronic conditions such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. More people are considering the ethical implications of a consumer-based global economy in general (think of global warming and other ecological disasters) and scientific advances in biotechnology in particular (think of the debates on genetically modified foods and cloning). The intellectual property (IP) paradigm of innovation, especially in biotechnology and pharmaceuticals, is failing global health (think of the response to AIDS in Africa).