News
Foundation's new report reveals opportunities for generic medicine manufacturers to bridge access gaps in Africa
08 September 2026
19 October 2026
Public health and business leader Madhav Joshi joins Supervisory Board
With more than 30 years of experience spanning the public and private sectors, Madhav Joshi has built his career around connecting commercial expertise, scientific innovation and public health priorities. He now joins the Foundation’s Supervisory Board, bringing a conviction that improving public health outcomes hinges on strong partnerships, strengthening local capacity and finding sustainable ways to bring innovation to those who need it most.
For Madhav Joshi, connecting public health needs with the private sector is at the crux of his experience – the breadth of which he now brings as the Foundation’s newest Supervisory Board member. As CEO of Mumbai-based Aditya Birla Education Trust, which works to expand access to mental health support across Asia and the Global South, Madhav brings this cross-sector perspective to today’s pressing public health challenges.
His work focuses on improving mental health support for women and young people through digital technologies, innovative financing, training and capacity building, and community engagement. In combining these approaches, Madhav seeks to connect new ideas with the systems and communities needed to turn them into meaningful, lasting support.
Madhav began his career at Nestlé, where he spent two decades in commercial roles focused on health and nutrition, before moving into business leadership positions at Pfizer and Abbott Nutrition. These experiences gave him insight into how the private sector develops, delivers and scales health-related products and services. He later brought this experience to the public health sphere, working with Tata Trusts – India’s largest and oldest philanthropic foundations – to establish the India Health Fund.
The Fund was established to de-risk the development and scale-up of private-sector innovations addressing public health challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Among the first philanthropic initiatives to focus on the role of frontier technologies in tackling Global South health challenges, it has supported the rollout of AI-based diagnostics, tools, and surveillance solutions for tuberculosis, vector-borne diseases and antimicrobial resistance.
This work reflects Madhav’s broader approach: bringing together the resources and capabilities of different sectors to help promising innovations move beyond development and towards practical application at scale.
To Access to Medicine Foundation CEO Jayasree K. Iyer, Madhav’s interdisciplinary experience is invaluable:Â
“Madhav brings a wealth of knowledge on expanding access to medicine in LMICs, combining pharmaceutical market access experience with expertise in strategic philanthropy and its potential to drive meaningful impact in global health. The Foundation – and the work we do – will benefit greatly from his perspective and ability to bridge the worlds of public health, business and finance, helping us strengthen our approach to improving access to medicine.”
As the Foundation continues to deepen its work on access, the replenishment of the Supervisory Board is key to supporting wider understanding and engagement across different networks. The Supervisory Board includes Linda-Gail Bekker as Chair, alongside existing members Prashant Yadav, Patrick Flochel, Jane Masiga, Tochi Okwor and Jo Walton, with Mariângela Simão stepping down after more than three years on the Board.
About the Access to Medicine Foundation
The Access to Medicine Foundation is an independent non-profit organisation that seeks to transform the healthcare ecosystem by motivating and mobilising companies to expand access to their essential healthcare products in low- and middle-income countries. The role of the Supervisory Board is to oversee the management and strategic direction of the Foundation, and Members are also consulted for advice and guidance in their areas of expertise.