Friday, May 06, 2005
Aids Relief in UGANDA- Mckinsey Soul Searching
This is one for you....Consulting really matters in Charity, as they do carry a heart...
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...LOL
Paul Cardiff- An inside offbeat soul searching by an Oxford student
June 26
I arrive for my first day with the firm as a summer intern in the New Jersey office and meet with Elisa, the staffing coordinator. She presents three options I can choose to pursue, one involving improving distribution of AIDS drugs in Africa. The study hasn't kicked off yet, so there's not a lot of information available, but it's a compelling opportunity. My background is in medical devices, and this study fits into pharmaceuticals and medical products. In addition, I've always been keen on politics, especially after having studied at Oxford as an American. I believe policy plays a role in the processes of doing business, and this case is an excellent example.
July 6
I speak by phone with David H., the study's engagement manager, who is in London right now. He tells me about his fieldwork in Zimbabwe and his role as an advisor during Phase 1. As David explains it, the team will focus on distribution in a specific country or countries, and talk to different distributors to find out what is really going on. My role will involve nontraditional distributors, such as NGOs and other goodwill organizations.
July 11
David introduces me to Ann, who was involved in Phase 1. I am working with Ann out of the New York office; she's getting me up to speed, and we are preparing an AIDS fact pack summarizing the situation in Africa, along with information that was uncovered in the first part of the study, for the kickoff meeting.
July 18
The team assembles for the kickoff meeting. Judith lets us know that the clients have asked us to focus on Uganda. Early work focuses on a 2-hour window every day in which we have to reach people in Uganda to get information and set up interviews for when we go in country in about 2 weeks.
August 1
It's our first day in Uganda, and it's overwhelming. I've been to Mexico, but no other developing countries. You look around and you see every little kid and every mother with a yellow plastic jug, since a daily task is to walk to get water and then walk back with this container on their heads. If a population does not have access to clean water, how are they going to have access not only to expensive drugs but also to medical care?We meet with the head of Uganda AIDS Commission. Hearing him talk really opens our eyes. With improved distribution alone, we're not going to solve this problem – we're only going to be able to move the drugs. How do we introduce these sophisticated drugs to people who may or may not understand what this medicine means, and how strictly they have to follow a certain regime? There are many hurdles, and distribution is just one of them.We came here thinking that distribution was the real issue, but after 1 day of interviews here, we all agree that it's only a part of it. The problem is much greater than we could ponder in our cozy New Jersey office. The team agrees that we need to shift to address that.
August 2
Our team gathers for our daily breakfast meeting and plans our interviews for the day. My focus has flipped to adherence and sustainability. One alternative is other points of interaction and follow-up care with HIV-positive patients. Existing research has a very Western, hospital- and clinic-focused point of view. Being here shows us that sustained adherence is a large challenge outside hospital-focused health care system.
August 5
Acha and I attend a meeting at the AIDS Information Center (AIC), a local NGO based in Kampala. We expect to see just the director and a few doctors, but what we encounter is a town-hall-style meeting, with 20 to 30 AIC people, most of whom are HIV-positive and play different roles with the organization. We meet members of an AIC drama troupe that works to raise HIV awareness.
It is amazing to speak with these people.They know about AZT and drug cocktails, even though they are not available.They know they need to take these drugs more than once a day and and that if they miss a treatment they'll get sick. Talking with them and sharing their personal experiences help us see the concern over why this understanding of the disease has not brought treatments and cures to Uganda.
August 7
We have our nightly meeting at the hotel around 6 p.m., and discuss what we have heard, what our hypothesis are, and what our plans are for tomorrow. Our focus so far has been on the situation in Kampala. Tomorrow, I will visit a regional clinic to gain a better understanding of the situation in the rest of the country, away from the urban capital city of Kampala.
August 8
The regional clinic that we're going to is in a "major" city on the highway to Kenya. The "highway to Kenya" is basically a one-lane asphalt road with so many potholes that it is smoother driving off road than down the highway.This clinic is one of our primary targets for reaching out to people in rural areas. When we had talked about being able to send blood samples to Kampala for testing, we had no idea how difficult that could be. You look at a map, and you see it's just 100 miles away, and you think you could leave in the morning and go back in the afternoon. But the infrastructure is too poor for something as simple as that.
August 14
We are back in New Jersey, working on our final recommendations. Our time in Uganda was invaluable for gaining a real understanding of the issues. We could never have learned about the true situation if we'd stayed in New Jersey. We see that distribution is just one of the hurdles. We also have to contend with issues of affordability, patient access, and sustained adherence.
September 18
I'm back at Oxford, and telling other students about my McKinsey experience. It's a common notion that if you go to work for a consultancy or an investment bank, you're selling your soul – you're going to work 100 hours a week, and you're just going to help some huge company make 1 percent more profit. This study was a real eye-opener. It was a total change of pace, a nonprofit effort trying to save the world. It was different than I expected McKinsey to be. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity and to see the impact McKinsey can have in a public policy context.
Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...LOL
Paul Cardiff- An inside offbeat soul searching by an Oxford student
June 26
I arrive for my first day with the firm as a summer intern in the New Jersey office and meet with Elisa, the staffing coordinator. She presents three options I can choose to pursue, one involving improving distribution of AIDS drugs in Africa. The study hasn't kicked off yet, so there's not a lot of information available, but it's a compelling opportunity. My background is in medical devices, and this study fits into pharmaceuticals and medical products. In addition, I've always been keen on politics, especially after having studied at Oxford as an American. I believe policy plays a role in the processes of doing business, and this case is an excellent example.
July 6
I speak by phone with David H., the study's engagement manager, who is in London right now. He tells me about his fieldwork in Zimbabwe and his role as an advisor during Phase 1. As David explains it, the team will focus on distribution in a specific country or countries, and talk to different distributors to find out what is really going on. My role will involve nontraditional distributors, such as NGOs and other goodwill organizations.
July 11
David introduces me to Ann, who was involved in Phase 1. I am working with Ann out of the New York office; she's getting me up to speed, and we are preparing an AIDS fact pack summarizing the situation in Africa, along with information that was uncovered in the first part of the study, for the kickoff meeting.
July 18
The team assembles for the kickoff meeting. Judith lets us know that the clients have asked us to focus on Uganda. Early work focuses on a 2-hour window every day in which we have to reach people in Uganda to get information and set up interviews for when we go in country in about 2 weeks.
August 1
It's our first day in Uganda, and it's overwhelming. I've been to Mexico, but no other developing countries. You look around and you see every little kid and every mother with a yellow plastic jug, since a daily task is to walk to get water and then walk back with this container on their heads. If a population does not have access to clean water, how are they going to have access not only to expensive drugs but also to medical care?We meet with the head of Uganda AIDS Commission. Hearing him talk really opens our eyes. With improved distribution alone, we're not going to solve this problem – we're only going to be able to move the drugs. How do we introduce these sophisticated drugs to people who may or may not understand what this medicine means, and how strictly they have to follow a certain regime? There are many hurdles, and distribution is just one of them.We came here thinking that distribution was the real issue, but after 1 day of interviews here, we all agree that it's only a part of it. The problem is much greater than we could ponder in our cozy New Jersey office. The team agrees that we need to shift to address that.
August 2
Our team gathers for our daily breakfast meeting and plans our interviews for the day. My focus has flipped to adherence and sustainability. One alternative is other points of interaction and follow-up care with HIV-positive patients. Existing research has a very Western, hospital- and clinic-focused point of view. Being here shows us that sustained adherence is a large challenge outside hospital-focused health care system.
August 5
Acha and I attend a meeting at the AIDS Information Center (AIC), a local NGO based in Kampala. We expect to see just the director and a few doctors, but what we encounter is a town-hall-style meeting, with 20 to 30 AIC people, most of whom are HIV-positive and play different roles with the organization. We meet members of an AIC drama troupe that works to raise HIV awareness.
It is amazing to speak with these people.They know about AZT and drug cocktails, even though they are not available.They know they need to take these drugs more than once a day and and that if they miss a treatment they'll get sick. Talking with them and sharing their personal experiences help us see the concern over why this understanding of the disease has not brought treatments and cures to Uganda.
August 7
We have our nightly meeting at the hotel around 6 p.m., and discuss what we have heard, what our hypothesis are, and what our plans are for tomorrow. Our focus so far has been on the situation in Kampala. Tomorrow, I will visit a regional clinic to gain a better understanding of the situation in the rest of the country, away from the urban capital city of Kampala.
August 8
The regional clinic that we're going to is in a "major" city on the highway to Kenya. The "highway to Kenya" is basically a one-lane asphalt road with so many potholes that it is smoother driving off road than down the highway.This clinic is one of our primary targets for reaching out to people in rural areas. When we had talked about being able to send blood samples to Kampala for testing, we had no idea how difficult that could be. You look at a map, and you see it's just 100 miles away, and you think you could leave in the morning and go back in the afternoon. But the infrastructure is too poor for something as simple as that.
August 14
We are back in New Jersey, working on our final recommendations. Our time in Uganda was invaluable for gaining a real understanding of the issues. We could never have learned about the true situation if we'd stayed in New Jersey. We see that distribution is just one of the hurdles. We also have to contend with issues of affordability, patient access, and sustained adherence.
September 18
I'm back at Oxford, and telling other students about my McKinsey experience. It's a common notion that if you go to work for a consultancy or an investment bank, you're selling your soul – you're going to work 100 hours a week, and you're just going to help some huge company make 1 percent more profit. This study was a real eye-opener. It was a total change of pace, a nonprofit effort trying to save the world. It was different than I expected McKinsey to be. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity and to see the impact McKinsey can have in a public policy context.
