Steve Davis Describes How One Blue Dot Managed To Save Millions Of Lives

PATH President and CEO Steve Davis joined HuffPost Live at Davos on Thursday to share how a simple solution can fix a major medical problem.

Davis explained the "cold chain problem" -- which he described as "technical and geeky," but said is actually "a really big problem" -- where vaccines that need to stay cold to be effective are warming up before they reach those who need them. Davis said his company helped with a simple solution to the problem by creating a device similar to the "little blue dot" on chicken packaging that let's users know if the meat has been thawed or not.

"Now, 4.5 billion units of vaccines that go out from UNICEF have that on there," Davis said. "It's like, a very simple idea was adapted, and it saved millions and millions of lives."

Davis also said "we have to just invest more in just the research and development of new vaccines."

"Vaccines aren't given themselves, someone has to manage them," Davis added.

Davis expressed optimism when asked about vaccinations around the world, but noted there are still many issues that leave some without the medicine they need to prevent major diseases.

"We've made a huge stride in addressing maternal and child mortality over the last 15 years and there's lots of extraordinary progress, but we've got a lot of work to do," Davis said.