Novartis Joins Global Initiative to Fight the Rise of Noncommunicable Diseases

January 18, 2016 /3BL Media/ - On January 18, 2017 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Novartis joins more than 20 leading biopharmaceutical companies to launch “Access Accelerated”, a global initiative to further advance access to prevention and care for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in low and lower-middle income countries (LICs and LMICs).

Chronic conditions such as heart disease and cancer are a growing threat in the world’s poorest countries. Twenty-eight million people die every year from cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, respiratory diseases and cancers in these countries, representing nearly 75% of deaths from NCDs globally¹.

We believe Novartis has a responsibility to use our expertise and skills to address the needs of underserved populations. Reimagining access to healthcare is rooted in our company mission, and we put access to healthcare at the heart of our business strategy, looking for new ways to deliver our products to as many people as possible. Novartis is leading the way with industry first programs such as Novartis Access and we are proud of the work of the Novartis Foundation, which pioneers innovative approaches to strengthen health service delivery.

“Novartis has a long-standing commitment to discovering and developing treatments for chronic diseases, and we are committed to pioneering new business models, such as Novartis Access, which aim to deliver medicines to as many people as possible. In order to further expand access to healthcare and make a meaningful impact, we need collaborations that go beyond public-private partnerships, including industry-wide coalitions,” said Joseph Jimenez, Chief Executive Officer of Novartis. 

The goal of Access Accelerated, in partnership with the World Bank Group and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC), is to work toward the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target to reduce premature deaths from NCDs by one-third by 2030².

Access Accelerated will help further address a variety of access barriers to NCD prevention, treatment and care. Efforts will be evaluated with the support of independent experts at Boston University to establish a framework for progress, measure effectiveness and deliver ongoing reporting. 

• For more on Access Accelerated, please visit accessaccelerated.org

• For more on our work to expand access to healthcare please visit Novartis.com

• More on Novartis Access is available here, on Novartis.com

• For more on the Novartis Foundation visit novartisfoundation.org

About Access Accelerated

Access Accelerated is a first-of-its-kind, multi-stakeholder collaboration focused on improving NCD care. Involving more than 20 biopharmaceutical companies, the initiative works with partners such as World Bank Group and the Union for International Cancer Control (UICC) to help overcome a variety of access barriers to NCD medicines in low-income and lower-middle income countries. Access Accelerated will support multi-stakeholder dialogue and begin on-the-ground work to improve NCD prevention, diagnosis and treatment. 

In addition to Novartis, contributing companies include: Almirall, Astellas, Bayer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Celgene, Chugai, Daiichi Sankyo, Eisai, Eli Lilly and Company, EFPIA, GlaxoSmithKline, The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), Johnson & Johnson, JPMA, Menarini, Merck, MSD, Pfizer, PhRMA, Roche, Sanofi, Shionogi, Sumitomo Dainippon, Takeda and UCB. IFPMA will act as the Secretariat for Access Accelerated. 

About Novartis

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care and cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2015, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.4 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 8.9 billion (USD 8.7 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in approximately 180 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

Novartis Media Relations

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E-mail: media.relations@novartis.com

References

1 WHO, Non-communicable diseases fact sheet, January 2015: http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs355/en/

2 UN, Sustainable Development Goals website: http://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/