President Trump arrived at the globe-hugging, free-trade-lovin’ World Economic Forum today, along with what appears to be his entire administration in tow. Cabinet secretaries, aides, and a veritable posse of current (and oddly, former) Trump staffers were also on hand, marching in and out of the city’s swank hotels with their earphoned security details.
Mr. Trump’s big speech comes tomorrow, following a week’s worth of other world leaders’ remarks to the CEO set assembled in this alpine redoubt. But in the meantime, the daily business of Davos—an unbroken agenda of speeches and side meetings, panels and presentations—continues…and continues. I could say something snarky here about said agenda, but the truth is, some of this stuff is both fascinating and important.
I’ll have more to report soon, for example, on where we stand in the age-old fight against malaria. Bill Gates and Sue Desmond-Hellmann, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, gave a striking assessment yesterday of how and when we could eradicate this child-decimating disease, the 21st century tools (from sophisticated data mapping to gene drives) that will help us accomplish it, and what could reverse the progress made if we’re not vigilant. I’ll share some thoughts on an illuminating panel on mental health—and why Kaiser Permanente CEO Bernard Tyson (one of the most powerful speakers I’ve met) says that, when it comes to healthcare, we’ve cut our heads off our bodies. I’ll sum up what some provocative soothsayers like Siemens CEO Joe Kaeser, Google Cloud honcho Diane Greene, and Will.i.am say healthcare, jobs, and social interaction will look like in five years—courtesy of the annual hot-ticket Salesforce lunch. But first, I have to run to another meeting.
This essay appears in today’s edition of the Fortune Brainstorm Health Daily. Get it delivered straight to your inbox.
