How Bill Gates Is "Drawing" Pharma Into The Future

By Anna Rose Welch, Editorial & Community Director, Advancing RNA

Over the past year, there has been an explosion of debate about the necessity of being vaccinated for illnesses that had been eradicated or have seen lower death rates. I’m not going to enter this argument; rather, I’m more intrigued by a project that has been put forth to celebrate the progress made in global health care with vaccines — a project that, much like a Public Service Announcement (PSA), could be used to remind the public about the global value and efficacy of vaccines and/or inspire future initiatives to spur vaccine usage.  

Quartz reported recently that Bill Gates has commissioned a new series of artwork known as “The Art Of Saving A Life,” which will be presented at the end of the month at an upcoming meeting of heads of state in Berlin. You can view the complete series here.

Comprising over three dozen images, sculptures, or short films created by international artists, the project highlights the history and importance of vaccines for HPV, Polio, Smallpox, and many other diseases in the modern world. According to Quartz, this project is a call to action for potential donors to promote affordable disease prevention. However, I’m also drawn to the ways this project could be explored further by patient advocacy groups and/or pharma to educate the public about the healthcare options available to them.

Though this newest art project isn’t a PSA, it very well could serve that purpose. For instance, in her photograph, “Edward Jenner’s Smallpox Discovery,” Alexia Sinclair juxtaposes an elaborately dressed young model sitting next to Dr. Edward Jenner as he inoculates James Phipps, the first recipient of the smallpox vaccine in 1796. The surreal image that combines the great outdoors and the interior of a doctor’s office suggests that vaccination is a natural and age-old practice, while the woman that looks like she’s straight off the runway in Milan signifies that disease does not discriminate based on class.

Mauro Perucchetti’s resin sculptures, “Vaccines as Love Serum,” were designed to appeal to children with a fear of needles, while Vik Muniz’s print of what appears to be flowers turns out to be liver cells injected with smallpox vaccine virus.

I’m excited to hear about the launch of this newest project commissioned by the Gates Foundation. Our industry is seeing the rise of patient advocacy groups, an increasing number of online patient communities, and a growing need for trial volunteers. While CISCRP launched PSAs concerning clinical research in 2005, there is still a need to educate the public about the benefits of clinical trials. As a fan of the visual arts, I like seeing the convergence of fine art and pharma in an attempt to keep the industry moving forward.