December 2022, Philips Foundation hosted its fifth webinar of a series on strengthening access to quality healthcare for underserved communities. In this webinar, we explored how social entrepreneurs and their disruptive models can offer ways to solve everyday healthcare challenges while complementing existing healthcare systems through their innovative and problem-solving approach.
About You will hear from social entrepreneurs and how their innovative and disruptive healthcare models are leading the way forward toward a more equal distribution of quality access to healthcare. You can watch the recording, or read our editorial, based on the discussions that took place during the webinar.
Background information December 12 is Universal Health Coverage Day, a time to reflect upon the fact that an estimated half of the world's population does not have access to the healthcare they need, and that approximately 100 million people a year fall into extreme poverty as a result of out-of-pocket spending. Social entrepreneurs in healthcare can offer disruptive models to solve healthcare access challenges and complement existing healthcare systems by deploying innovative ways to enable access to health services in underserved areas. However, many social entrepreneurs face challenges in accessing funding, collaborating with and integrating into existing health systems, and scaling up their innovations. In 2021, Philips Foundation established a social impact investment vehicle to support social enterprises through early-stage investment and situation-specific support to accelerate opportunities to improve access to care in underserved communities. By establishing such vehicle, Philips Foundation is underlining its commitment to finding innovative ways to provide access to quality healthcare for around a 100 million underserved people annually by 2030.
This webinar brought together social entrepreneurs collaborating with the Philips Foundation to explore the role of health social enterprises in improving access to quality healthcare in underserved communities globally. The webinar will address the topic as follows: