What have we become?
I really need to get the intonation correct with that title. Let’s be clear – this is not a screaming into the mirror, shortly before shattering my own reflection, kind of question.
It is, rather, a kind of probing curiosity. A wonderment at the present happenings of pharma and where we are and, of course, where the hell we might go.
You see, in the whirlwind of generative AI, weight loss drugs and NHS reboot promises, we don’t often have the inclination to reflect. We go with the flow, because the flow – all too often – takes us in its seductive slipstream. It’s a force of un-nature to which we are mostly reconciled.
But that force – natural or otherwise – can and must be channelled towards the ‘good’ lane.
AI for example can recognise, surely, with absolute clarity what needs to be done to NHS and public health institutions in order to make them (forgive me for using this phrase) ‘fit for purpose’.
Machines, if they are going to be of any use, will approach such a task with absolutely no sentimentality. After all, it is the fumes of NHS romance that have led to the current two-star situ.
In no other walk of life would we accept such a creaking product. It is a perfect example of why the entire healthcare ecosystem should proceed into the future, consumed by the fragrance of possibility rather than the stench of paranoia (disclaimer: while still retaining a certain amount of caution).
Enjoy the magazine!
