Many friends are asking me what is my involvement in Cure2Children now, and what the new "Cure Thalassemia" has to do with it. In this post I want to clarify a few things.
In November 2008, I started to volunteer in Cure2Children for its Internet Marketing and Social Media strategy, and than, from August 2009, I've also been CEO, up to a few months ago. I had also helped to negotiate the agreement with the Nobel Prize Yunus and the Grameen-Cure2Children Social Business for Thalassemia, and I helpet to write the business plan.
But in August 2010 I decided to resign from Cure2Children, to start a new foundation called "Cure Thalassemia" with my best friend Pietro Sodani.
The main reasons of my choice are:
1) Charity vs Social Business
Cure2Children is a charity, and the board doesn't really believe in the social business idea.
I don't believe in the charity model, because raising money from donors is difficult, it is hard to forecast how much money is available each month, and it is also very difficult to attract and pay professionals (not only doctors and nurses). Like Prof. Yunus says in his books, these are some of the reasons why I like the Social Business model, which is financially self-sustainable.
2) Thalassemia vs other diseases
It cures Thalassemia in Asia and Morocco, Leukemia in Kossovo and in the future would also like to cure other diseases.
On the contrary, I only want to be involved with Thalassemia.
3) Research vs Cure
Cure2Children also wants to be involved in the medical research field for these diseases.
Instead, I want to have my main focus in curing as many children as possible using existing protocols; research of new protocols is not a priority for me, even if we might do it in the future, but not now.
So Pietro and I decided to both resign from Cure2Children (he was in the scientific advisory board) to found "Cure Thalassemia" (a foundation in Italy and a company in India) with the vision to only cure Thalassemia children, applying the exisisting Lucarelli protocol using a financially self-sustainable social business model, as defined by Prof. Yunus. We will start in India in Hyderabad with our friend Chandrakant Agrawal.
The scientific coordinator will be Prof. Guido Lucarelli, the inventor of the Bone Marrow Transplantation protocol to cure Thalassemia, and a worldwide known scientist. For me it is an honour and a privilege to work with him, and with my best friend Pietro.
