About the Author
Author Bio:
Dr. Joseph Saba is Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Axios International, a global healthcare access company with 25 years of specialized experience developing practical and sustainable solutions to patient access challenges in emerging markets and developing countries. Under his leadership, the company has launched many successful programs to increase access to care and treatment and improve patients’ medical outcomes in more than 100 countries.
Dr. Saba is a French Lebanese medical doctor specialized in infectious disease, health management and statistics. Throughout his career, he has led numerous discussions with pharmaceutical companies, governments and other key players across the healthcare community to drive access to innovative medications in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs). He is known internationally for establishing the first antiretroviral drug access program through the UNAIDS Drug Access Initiative, making it possible for critical medicines to reach patients in need during the peak of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and pioneering a new generation of treatment access solutions for LMICs.
In 1993, Dr. Saba joined the World Health Organization (WHO) as the WHO Focal Point for the National Plan for HIV Vaccine Development. From 1994-1995, he worked with the WHO Global Program on AIDS in Rwanda and later supported HIV vaccine research efforts in Geneva. Following his time at WHO, Dr. Saba collaborated with the Joint United Nations Program on HIV/AIDS in the Department of Policy, Strategy and Research, where he led an international working group focused on Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV/AIDS, as well as the groundbreaking PETRA study, a multi-centre clinical trial on PMTCT treatment in Africa.
Dr. Saba completed his Infectious Diseases specialty, along with a certificate of Medical Statistics, at the University Paris VI (France). Dr. Saba completed his medical degree at St. Joseph University (Beirut, Lebanon) and holds a Master of Communications and Medical Management (MSc) from the Superior Business School (Paris, France). He is fluent in Arabic, French and English.
Dr. Saba has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, International Herald Tribune, Newsweek and Pharmaceutical Executive, among others, and has published widely in peer-reviewed scientific journals.
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