Samuel Glatman was so fascinated by Myanmar that he moved there. He soon found that widespread use of betel quid was a problem without a remedy. Now, through Ko Shwe Ventures, he endeavours to bring affordable oral care products within reach of millions.
[ALUMNI-INFO TEXT="When chewed, betel quid stains the teeth of users a dark red colour. “Whilst it’s a traditional habit, upon further study it became clear that it has a host of serious side effects," explains Samuel. These effects range from sensitivity and inflammation to a pre-cancerous condition called oral submucous fibrosis and oral cancer. An estimated 43% of the Myanmar population chew the popular drug.
Across Asia, there are a reported 600 million users.
But the solution is far from simple. Large portions of the population rely on betel quid for their livelihood, from the more than 10 million farmers who grow the components of betel to over 150,000 shops that sell the product.
The solution had to not just improve the oral health of betel users, but also be affordable and not damage the incomes of those relying on its sale. “I naively assumed that it would be easy to develop entirely new oral care products and sell them at prices to compete with some of the world’s largest oral care brands," Samuel reflects."][/ALUMNI-INFO]
[ALUMNI-QUOTES TEXT="Establishing Ko Shwe Ventures, he then launched two products—a mouthwash to use after chewing betel, and a chewing gum designed to improve gum health. He hopes to build a leading regional business providing oral care solutions to low income customers, an ambition that calls upon skills he developed at LKYSPP.
“Core skills include soft (leadership and negotiation) and hard skills (economics, econometrics, research methods, etc.). The LKYSPP education gave me a combination of the hard and soft skills to succeed and an understanding of the complex socio political dynamics of the region.”
Moving on, Samuel is spurred by the “600 million people who need our products” and who “drive our team to continue.”"][/ALUMNI-QUOTES]