Healthy Markets CoP Session - India - February 2024 Speaker Highlights

Shankar Narayanan, Senior Technical Advisor for Market Development with USAID's FHM Engage, will speak on FP market challenges in India and possible market development interventions. 
As an advisor for FHM Engage, Shankar plays an important role in the program's technical unit for market development across key markets in Asia and Africa. Notably, he spearheaded the India Market Description for Family Planning in 2023, contributing significantly to the program's design. Shankar pioneered market development at PSI India, where he championed initiatives in Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR). Under his leadership, the WASH market development and partnerships evolved into the national level Technical Support Unit (TSU), impacting millions of households. Moreover, his strategic guidance led to substantial growth in the blended financing corpus, skyrocketing from $1.2 million to a $100 million portfolio for toilet construction through the WASH Institute, where he continues to serve on the advisory board. His expertise lies in crafting strategies and designing large-scale programs that bridge the public-private divide. Shankar has a degree in electronics and management diplomas in entrepreneurship and business analytics. He firmly believes in harnessing the power of markets for efficient resource allocation and to drive impactful change.

Komal Khanna, Senior Social Behavior Change Advisor with USAID India, will discuss her USAID India SHOPS Plus experiences around stewardship and demand mobilization for FP. 
Komal Khanna is the Senior Social Behavior Change Advisor with USAID India. She has a master’s degree in economics and Diploma in Marketing Management. She has over 30 years of strategic management experience in the private and international development sectors. She has played a pivotal role in providing strategic guidance and implementation oversight to complex projects in FP, maternal and child health, non-communicable diseases, HIV, tuberculosis, and malaria with international development organizations like USAID, UNDP, The Global Fund, FHI 360, and Abt Associates. She has been a critical driver of many innovative programs in social media and digital healthcare that received national and international awards including the Prime Minister's award. In her earlier role as the Chief of Party, India for SHOPS Plus, a USAID project, she catalyzed 18 public and private sector partnerships to form a Condom Alliance and developed social media campaigns for 100 million youth to increase the contraceptive uptake in India. 

Krishna Jadhav, Vice President of Women’s Health Business for Access Market for Viatris, will present on their work to improve domestic market penetration with multiple brands and their strategy for positioning by age.
Krishna Jadhav has more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry and 16 years in the reproductive health segment. In his current role as Vice President of Women’s Health Business for Access Market for Viatris, he has been instrumental in building a large customer base of leading partners in reproductive health making Viatris a preferred partner. His understanding of market dynamics in emerging markets coupled with understanding of customer needs in the social marketing segment has helped Viatris have long term partnerships with NGOs and SMOs.

Vivek Malhotra, CEO for Population Health Services India (PHSI), will discuss PHSI’s work to become commercially viable and improve availability of youth focused brands, including plans for Sub-Q in India. 
Vivek Malhotra has over 30 years of experience in social marketing of contraceptives in India and abroad and has designed, evaluated, and implemented many social marketing programs. He is well versed with the strategies of creating contraceptive brands and strategies for expanding their usage. Vivek established PHSI in 1999 and it is now one of the largest social marketing programs delivering a wide range of contraceptives. Throughout his career he has designed routes for promotion of contraceptives through education and development of health service provider material. He has led consumer and market research, conducted in-depth studies and surveys, and designed packaging and health service provider material. 

Anagha Rai, Project Coordinator at Nivi, Inc., will speak to her experience with digital channel information facilitation and mobilization of youth-focused content. 
As the Project Coordinator at Nivi, Anagha Rai leads implementation of projects for the India market. She received a Master of Public Health from New York University in 2017 after which she managed a community health program, and then worked for a private healthcare company at the intersection of clinical research and digital health strategy. Most recently prior to Nivi, she was at the Public Health Foundation of India and managed the stakeholder engagement strategy for the One Health Antibiotic Stewardship in Society (OASIS) study.

Anantha Krishnan, Senior Program Officer of Digital and Health Innovation at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, will discuss their B2B platform working on pharmacy education for FP and planning for increased penetration with distributors and chemists. 
Anantha is a healthcare professional boasting over 16 years of extensive experience spanning across pharmaceutical, medical devices, and healthcare consulting sectors. Anantha is keen to address health challenges through a patient-centric approach. His expertise encompasses areas including product introductions, policy shaping, pricing, and reimbursement strategies, as well as pioneering go-to-market innovations. Anantha has played pivotal roles within launch teams for key products in diverse fields such as multiple sclerosis, oncology, bariatric solutions, and precision solutions including surgical robotics and microwave therapies. Prior to this role, Anantha garnered experience from esteemed organizations such as Johson & Johnson, Novartis, and consulting for investment banks. Anantha has a degree in Medicine (RGUHS) and a master’s in biomedical technology from IIT Madras.

Abhilash Jacob Philip, Deputy Chief of Party in MOMENTUM Country & Global Leadership, will speak on catalyzing the entrepreneurial ecosystem for advancing SRH innovations and creating the world's largest network of stakeholders for young people: Yash Entrepreneurs Program & Udaan Collaborative. 
Abhilash Jacob Philip has worked in areas of youth, gender-based violence, tobacco control, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, reproductive health, and child health. Throughout his career, he has been deeply involved in designing programs and establishing partnerships with government and the private sector. Currently as Deputy Chief of Party in MOMENTUM Country & Global Leadership (MCGL), he manages operations, introduction of newer contraceptives as well as other MCGL interventions with focus on Udaan Collaborative and Yash Entrepreneurs Program. In his previous role as the Senior Deputy Chief of Party of the USAID SHOPS Plus project at Abt Associates, he and his team conceptualized and facilitated the successful transition of the Condom Alliance to The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM). He also conceptualized the Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India’s (FOGSI) flagship initiative, the Pankh Initiative, aimed at serving young people. 

Priya Naik, Founder and CEO at Samhita Social Ventures, will speak on their collaboration with service providers in adjacent markets targeting the youth population to strengthen the demand for women’s health and wellness products. 
Priya Naik is the Founder and CEO of Samhita, an impact catalyst and alliance builder. Samhita and its non-profit, Collective Good Foundation (CGF), have impacted 16 million individuals and aim to double incomes of 10 million additional workers and entrepreneurs with a focus on women. Samhita and CGF are co-creating India's first network to accelerate the health, incomes, and livelihoods in partnership with the public, private, philanthropic, financial, and social sectors. Priya has worked with the International Finance Corporation, Poverty Action Lab at MIT, and Arthur Andersen. Priya has a master’s degrees from Yale University, the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and Mumbai University, where she was a Gold Medalist. She also holds an Executive Education degree from Harvard Business School.