Profile
Simon Berry
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About Me:
I now live in West Sussex with my co-worker and wife Jane but we’ve lived and worked in many different countries including Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, Egypt and Zambia. In my spare time I’m usually designing and building things.
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Recent projects have included:
A Green Oak Barn
A platform for a shed – pictured here in the construction phase (need to build the shed next!)
Some steps!
Etc etc
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My pronouns are:
he/him
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My Work:
For the last fifteen years I’ve working with Jane to improve access to diarrhoea treatment for children. Diarrhoea is the second biggest killer of children. It kills 1 child every minute.
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In 2008 we started working with people in Zambia on a plan to reduce child mortality in Zambia buy increasing access to Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) and Zinc (the recommended treatment). Increased access = reduced mortality. When we started less than 1% of cases received ORS and Zinc and when we left in 2018 34% did. You can read more about what we did and how we did it here: colalife.org
After Zambia, we worked with others to get *co-packaged* ORS and Zinc on the World Health Organisation’s list of essential medicines and since then we’ve been working to encourage countries with high diarrhoea mortality to adopt this. I do this through the ORS/Zinc Co-pack Alliance (ORSZCA) which I co-founded. You can read more about this here: orszco-pack.org
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My Typical Day:
For me there is no such thing as a typical day!
I’m mostly desk-based these days and spend most of my time trying to persuade organisations like WHO (World Health Organisation) and UNICEF to do the right thing! Key to this is gathering and presenting evidence that shows how the co-packaging of ORS and Zinc increases the number of children get the correct treatment for diarrhoea and fewer die.
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Education:
Chippenham School (hybrid grammar/comprehensive)
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Qualifications:
9 ‘O Levels’
3 ‘A Levels’ – Physics, Chemistry & Biology
BSc (Hons) – Agriculture (I didn’t get high enough grades to go to Veterinary School)
MSc – Tropical Animal Health & Production
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Work History:
I’ve done too many different things to list here. Please see my LinkedIn profile.
A key point is: I feel I’ve had most impact in the last 15 years working to improve child health (and got an OBE for this work) and I don’t have single qualification in health!
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Current Job:
I run the secretariat for the ORS/Zinc Co-pack Alliance (ORSZCA) which is a voluntary post. I’m of retirement age.
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Employer:
None.
I’ve operated as a self-employed person for the last 15 years.
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My Interview
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How would you describe yourself in 3 words?
A catalytic changemaker
What did you want to be after you left school?
A Vet
Were you ever in trouble at school?
Yes (you'll need to ask)
If you weren't doing this job, what would you choose instead?
It's not really a job - more a way of life!
Who is your favourite singer or band?
Hootie and the Blowfish
What's your favourite food?
One of my wife's bowls of salad
If you had 3 wishes for yourself what would they be? - be honest!
I wish someone had told me about glaucoma at an early age. That's my only wish.
Tell us a joke.
What's long brown and sticky? (A stick)
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