Health & Healthcare

The buzz around public-private partnership (PPP) keeps getting louder. And yes – PPPs are everywhere, operating in virtually every industry sector around the world, including health.

A one-of-a-kind Innovation Center is coming to Central and Western China and is expected to make a big impact on healthcare. “We are ready and eager to continue working with partners in China to explore and solve the country’s healthcare challenges,” says Chris Lee, President of Medtronic Greater China.

Nestlé will bring its global flagship initiative, Nestlé for Healthier Kids to the United States through a kick-off event in Newark, N.J. today, that introduces the “Start Healthy, Stay Healthy” program.

Stacey Ragin aims to make busy parents’ lives easier — and healthier — by teaching nutrition classes to parents in Newark, New Jersey. During her courses, offered as part of Nestlé’s Start Healthy, Stay Healthy program, she lays out the benefits of breastfeeding, provides tips for managing picky eaters, and makes suggestions for healthy snacks.

When Medtronic decided to partner with the Minnesota Vikings this fall, the goal was simple — bring awareness to the importance of health and fitness. In September, Medtronic and the Vikings awarded a local school with a "Fit Zone" donation. The financial support allowed Minneapolis North Community High School to invest in a new weight room and training center for its student athletes. Additionally, Medtronic is providing Twin Cities employees the opportunity to donate gently used sports equipment throughout the month of October. The donations will go to the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Department.

Medtronic continues to team up with All Hands and Heart, a disaster relief organization. Together, they’re providing opportunities for employees to put a pause on their day jobs and pitch in throughout hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico.

The World Health Organization (WHO) announced today that it has validated Nepal as the sixth country to eliminate trachoma as a public health problem. Pfizer is excited to join the global trachoma community in celebrating this important milestone, which brings us one step closer to eliminating the world’s leading infectious cause of blindness once and for all.

Benjamin Francisco has seen a lot in his eight years with the Minnesota Army National Guard. Deployed twice, to Egypt and Kuwait, it was his job to keep critical IT communications systems up and running. But convincing employers those skills can transfer to the civilian workforce has been another matter. Medtronic is trying to help veterans overcome that challenge.

Telemedicine in Latin America is expanding — proving just how important partnerships and technological advancements can be to health care management in remote areas. Medtronic, along with the Lumen Foundation and Internal Telemedicine Systems, formed the Latin American Telemedicine Infarct Network (LATIN) to address one of the region’s most pressing challenges — cardiovascular disease, specifically STEMI. Today, LATIN is offered in more clinics — serving more patients – than ever before. The model continues to grow in Colombia and Brazil with more than 120 participating clinics and 19 hospitals. In remote parts of Mexico, 35 primary care centers and three hospitals have adopted the model for the first time.