Paul Farmer

People are becoming increasingly aware of public health initiatives, thanks to organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, but who are these men and women actually out there in the fields of Rwanda and Peru making a difference in the lives of the poorest populations? Jessica speaks with one such pioneer, Paul Farmer, who since his early twenties has been committed to disease and poverty reduction. Paul is the co-founder of Partners in Health, which he started in Haiti in the 1980s. Partners in Health provides health care to the world’s poorest communities, and defies conventional wisdom which claims that it’s too difficult or expensive to train poor people effectively on a large scale.

Jessica speaks with Paul about how he got Partners in Health off the ground while he was still a student at Harvard Medical School, and we learn how this leader has helped to reshape the public health landscape, from scratch.