Access Accelerated in Action shares experiences from 19 member company NCD access programs implemented in collaboration with more than 50 cross-sector partners

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND – 20 May 2019 – Today, at a side event on the margins of the 72^nd World Health Assembly, ACCESS ACCELERATED, a global partnership of more than 20 biopharmaceutical companies, launched Access Accelerated in Action: Key Learnings in Program Design & Implementation. This resource is the first collective effort from Access Accelerated member companies to share insights from their NCD programs in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Access Accelerated in Action is an effort to enhance the impact of public-private partnerships to address the global NCD burden and strengthen health systems in support of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

According to the WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, each year, 15 million people under the age of 70 die from NCDs and people in LMICs are disproportionally affected. The vast majority of these premature deaths – more than 85 percent – occur in LMICs.

Access Accelerated was created to address this growing burden by fostering collaboration between the biopharmaceutical industry and a broad range of stakeholders – including people living with NCDs (PLWNCDs), healthcare providers, governments, academia, civil society, multilaterals and others in the private sector – to address barriers to NCD prevention, treatment and care.

Access Accelerated in Action articulates six cross-cutting principles that underpin the initiative’s commitment to strengthening NCD programs: a patient-centered approach; strong local ownership and engagement; substantive partnerships; sustainable, equitable solutions; innovation and continuous learning; and rigorous measurement and transparency. Through a series of 19 case studies, the report examines how member companies have incorporated these principles into their programmatic work.

This resource is intended to spark further collaboration with partners and the broader global health community to broaden and deepen collective knowledge. Through 2019 and beyond, Access Accelerated will be inviting input from the global health community – partners, governments, PLWNCDs, civil society, NGOs and academia – to inform subsequent editions of Access Accelerated in Action. Ultimately, this is in service of supporting all stakeholders’ efforts to address the global NCD burden and improve both the lives of PLWNCDs and their communities.

“We recognize the biopharmaceutical industry’s role in fostering proactive, collaborative global efforts to strengthen health systems around the world,” said Yoshimi Ohno of Astellas Pharma Inc., who co-led the report’s development. “This report is intended to contribute to building and sharing the knowledge base and experiences of Access Accelerated member companies working on NCD solutions.”

“Access Accelerated members and partners have a unique opportunity to come together and work collaboratively to improve health and advance NCD care in LMICs,” said Rina Sakai of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd., who also helped lead the report’s development. “By learning from the challenges and successes of the past, as well as understanding opportunities for the future, Access Accelerated in Action is a key resource to support future action.”

Access Accelerated in Action demonstrates the sector’s commitment to sharing information and key learnings, but also serves as a call to action to increase effective multi-sectoral collaboration.

“Access Accelerated in Action is another step forward in our commitment to greater transparency and accountability,” said Access Accelerated Director James Pfitzer. “It serves as a call to action to catalyze new, and scale up existing solutions, to tackle the growing NCD burden. We hope this will be a useful resource to continually improve programming and galvanize more collaboration.”

Click here to download Access Accelerated in Action

About Access Accelerated

Access Accelerated is a first-of-its-kind collaboration of more than 20 global biopharmaceutical companies working to reduce barriers to prevention, treatment and care for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). Launched in 2017, the initiative unites the biopharmaceutical industry to forge partnerships with country governments, civil society, multilateral and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to address the growing NCD burden. We believe that to address the scale and complexity of the NCD challenge, all sectors must collaborate to strengthen health systems. The initiative is part of the industry’s commitment to help achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically target 3.4 – by 2030, reduce by one-third pre-mature mortality from NCDs – and support for global momentum around Universal Health Coverage.

For more information about Access Accelerated visit: https://accessaccelerated.org/

Stacy Montejo
+1 202 585 2025
SMONTEJO@WEBERSHANDWICK.COM