Hult Prize focuses on healthcare in 2014

BOSTON – The Hult Prize Foundation is proud to announce that the 2014 Hult Prize will be themed around healthcare. The focus area was selected by President Bill Clinton at this year's Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting inNew Yorkand will specifically address non-communicable disease (NCD) in urban slums.

"Over one billion people live in slums and most of them don't have access to adequate healthcare. This is unacceptable," said CEO Ahmad Ashkar, adding that 63% of deaths worldwide are due to NCD and that 80% of these deaths occur in low-and middle-income countries (LMIC).

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Although some progress has been made in the provision of healthcare to slums, governments have failed to help people that are suffering from chronic disease in slums and tend to focus on emergency care. Meanwhile, NGOs struggle with limited resources and often choose to focus on infectious or communicable disease. Social enterprises may therefore be the best option to address this issue.

Since its inception in 2009, over 24,000 college and university students have competed for the annual Hult Prize, which provides a platform for business students from over 150 countries to develop social enterprises in order to solve some of the world's most pressing issues. The winning start-up receives USD1 million in seed capital awarded each fall by President Bill Clinton at his annual CGI meeting inNew York.

The Hult Prize is made possible through the support of Hult International Business School, the Clinton Global Initiative, and the Hult family.