360disruption

  Over the past decade, global health has not suffered from a lack of innovation. On the contrary, we have seen an explosion of diagnostics, digital platforms, AI-driven tools, and breakthrough technologies aimed at improving detection, prevention, and care. Funding rounds are announced, pilots are launched, innovation hubs are opened, and conferences celebrate progress. Yet outcomes tell a different story. Across large parts of Africa and the GCC, preventable diseases are still detected too late, diagnostic access remains uneven, and national health systems struggle to absorb and sustain innovation at scale. This is not a technology problem. It is an execution problem. The Illusion of Progress Modern health innovation has become very good at creating  signals of momentum . Pilots demonstrate intent. Innovation labs show ambition. Proof-of-concepts validate ideas. But too often, these signals are mistaken for systems. A pilot that works in one hospital does not automatically t...

Why Impact Fails Without Local Ownership, a Thought Leadership article by Anjo De Heus In global development and global health, impact is one of the most used — and most misunderstood — words. Billions are committed. Programs are launched. Dashboards are filled. Reports are published. And yet, too often, when funding cycles end, the impact quietly disappears . Not because the intentions were wrong. Not because the technology didn’t work. But because ownership was never transferred . The Hidden Weakness in Most “Impact” Models Many well-funded initiatives are built on a flawed assumption: That access alone creates sustainability. It doesn’t. When solutions are: designed externally, owned externally, operated externally, and governed externally, they remain temporary visitors , not permanent assets. Local teams may participate — but they do not control. Governments may endorse — but they do not own. Communities may benefit — but they do not shape. When priorities shift, partner...

  Diagnostics are usually discussed in clinical terms. Accuracy. Sensitivity. Turnaround time. Cost per test. Important metrics — but incomplete ones. In much of Africa, diagnostics are treated as a  healthcare expense , something to be imported, subsidized, and managed as a cost line within overstretched systems. When budgets tighten, diagnostics are often among the first things to be centralized, rationed, or delayed. This framing misses the bigger picture. Diagnostics are not just a medical tool. They are  economic infrastructure . The Hidden Economic Role of Diagnostics When diagnostics are designed only for laboratory environments, their economic footprint remains small. Value is captured upstream — by manufacturers, distributors, and data owners far from the communities being tested. But when diagnostics are structured for  decentralized, national-scale deployment , they begin to behave very differently. They create jobs. Not abstract jobs — real ones: technici...

Global health is not short on innovation. Every year, we see breakthroughs in diagnostics, therapeutics, digital health platforms, and AI-enabled tools that promise earlier detection, better outcomes, and lower costs. Conferences are full. White papers are polished. Pilot programs multiply. And yet, in much of Africa, the lived reality remains unchanged. Diagnostics are still centralized or unavailable. Health systems remain fragmented. Jobs are scarce. Data flows outward faster than value flows inward. This is not a failure of science. It is a failure of execution. The Pilot Trap The global health ecosystem has become overly comfortable with pilots. Pilots are safe. Pilots are fundable. Pilots produce reports, dashboards, and press releases. But pilots rarely build anything that lasts. They do not create local manufacturing capacity. They do not train workforces at scale. They do not embed ownership within national systems. They do not survive political, budgetary, or leadership trans...