This seminar is part of SPRIE's Fall 2003 series on "High-Tech Regions and the Globalization of Value Chains."

Eric Benhamou is the chairman of the board of directors of 3Com Corporation, of Palm Inc. and of PalmSource, Inc. He served as chief executive officer of 3Com Corporation from September 1990 until December 31, 2000. In 1981, Benhamou co-founded Bridge Communications, an early networking pioneer, and was vice president of engineering until its merger with 3Com in 1987. Before joining Bridge Communications, he worked at Zilog, Inc. as project manager, software engineering manager and design engineer.

Benhamou holds honorary doctoral degrees from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Widener University, Western Governors University, and the University of South Carolina. He has a master of science degree in electrical engineering from Stanford University and a Diplome d'Ingenieur from Ecole Nationale Superieure d'Arts et Metiers, Paris.

Benhamou currently serves as chairman of the board of Cypress Semiconductor and as a member of the board of Legato. He serves on the board of directors of privately held companies, Intransa and Atrica. He serves on the board of the New America Foundation, a Washington DC-based think tank. Benhamou serves on the executive committee of TechNet and of the Computer Science and Technology Board (CSTB). In addition, Benhamou is a champion of Smart Valley II, an initiative for deployment of state-of-the art information technology in Silicon Valleys health care, transportation, and education to enhance the quality of life for community members.

Dr. Chowdhury is a vascular surgeon and pioneering public health leader from Bangladesh who wrote "The Politics of Essential Drugs: The Makings of a Successful Health Strategy: Lessons from Bangladesh." In 1971, Dr. Chowdhury left England to return to what was then East Pakistan and join the war of liberation for Bangladesh. He helped establish a field hospital for freedom fighters and refugees, which lead to the development Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) or "The People's Health Center." GK has trained more than 7,000 barefoot doctors, and serves 1,000 villages in 14 Bangladeshi districts. A pharmaceutical factory was established by GK in 1981 which produces medicines on the World Health Organization's essential medicines list; employs 1,500 people and has an $11 million annual budget. One-half of its profits are reinvested and the other half go to GK's other projects. In 1985, Dr. Chowdhury and GK were awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award (sometimes called the Asian Nobel Peace Prize) and in 1992, the Right Livelihood Award (also known as the alternative Nobel Prize). Dr. Chowdhury was instrumental in convincing the Bangladesh government to adopt a National Drug Policy in 1982. This controversial policy promotes essential medicines and discourages the use of drugs with little therapeutic value. GK hosted the People's Health Assembly in December 2000, which challenged global health organizations to improve public health care for the poor. Dr. Chowdhury is this year's International Honoree of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health Heroes.

Professor Campbell will discuss Japan's new public, mandatory, long-term care insurance program: does it make sense as social policy? As economic policy? Professor Creighton has long been interested in the relationship between politics and substantive public policy, and in the way policies change upon implementation. He has pursued this interest mostly in the context of the Japanese political system, and in this talk he will apply his framework to Japan's foray into socialized care for the elderly.

Korea achieved national health insurance coverage for the entire population in 1989, thirteen years after Korea adopted a national health insurance policy. Its success drew a lot of attention from other countries, including the US. This talk will explain the secrets of its success and also critique the pitfall of its national health insurance system. However, more recently, Korea has faced challenges from most parts of its health care system. The national health insurance corporation has been showing financial deficits. Also, the health care delivery sector has experienced a series of political battles among professional groups: physician vs. pharmacist, and oriental medical doctors vs. pharmacists. The seminar will analyze the reasons for these challenges, and discuss the direction for Korea's health care reforms. Those who have interests in the Korean national health insurance systems, please refer to Gerard Anderson (1989) "Universal Health Care Coverage in Korea." Health Affairs, Summer ,24-35. Miron Stano (1990) "Comparing US and Korean Health Care." Health Affairs, Summer, 237-238. Those who have interests in the political battles among professional groups, please refer to Hoy-Je Cho, (2000) "Traditional Medicine, Professional Monopoly and Structural Interests: a Korean Case." Social Science & Medicine, Vol 50, Issue 1, 123-135. These articles can be downloaded from the Stanford e-journal lists. This program is free and open to the public. Lunch will be provided for those who RSVP before noon on Wednesday, Novermber 28 to Okky Choi. Tel: (650) 724-8271 or Email: okkychoi@stanford.edu