By Martin Khor* | IDN-InDepth NewsReport
GENEVA (IDN) – I spent a day with a giant of a man who arguably has done more than anyone else to save millions of lives of people with AIDS and other diseases in the developing world.
The meeting took place in Mumbai at the headquarters of Cipla, one of India’s biggest generic drug companies.
Dr. Yusuf Hamied, the co-owner, managing director and leading personality of Cipla, is most unusual. Ideas and words flow from him like a mighty river, as he moves from one topic to another, his eyes twinkling.
This seems to come from the combination of a brilliant scientific mind (he has a PhD in Chemistry from Cambridge), a passion to overcome injustice and do good for the poor of the world, skills to turn ideas into practical results and the business imperative to make money at the same time.