Academy of Medical Science's 2006 Jean Shanks Lecture was given by Tachi Yamada, president of the global health programme of the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation
In his address, Dr Yamada discussed opportunities to accelerate the discovery, development, and delivery of tools to improve health in the world's poorest countries.
He also discussed the Gates Foundation's role in addressing urgent health problems such as HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria.
"There is no bigger challenge for science today than finding sustainable solutions to improving health," said Yamada.
"It is possible to overcome diseases such as HIV/Aids, tuberculosis, and malaria - and save millions of lives - if we marshal adequate resources, expertise, and commitment".
Momentum is rapidly growing to address the inequities in health between rich and poor countries.
Life-saving interventions have been proven to work on a large scale; policymakers are devoting significant new resources to global health; and advances in science and technology hold great promise for the development of new tools to fight diseases of the developing world.
Yet significant challenges remain.
Many diseases of the developing world lack simple, affordable solutions, and the world is not doing enough to ensure rapid, widespread access to existing and new health technologies.
To overcome these challenges, the scientific community must increase its focus on global health, and the private sector must take a more active role in developing and introducing new global health solutions.
