In 2000, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out in motion a landmark political agenda from the highest levels of national governments to be achieved by 2015. Through eight overarching goals, governments and international organizations committed to improving the social and economic conditions especially in the world’s poorest countries. A recent report from the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA) looked at several of these goals, which strongly relate to life science companies. Specifically, the report looked at goals related to:
- Reducing child mortality
- Improving maternal health
- Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases; and
- Creating a global partnership for development
Since the MDGs’ launch, many notable health successes resulted from coordinated actions by many contributors from public and private sectors and civil society. Pharmaceutical companies lead over 220 partnerships—a five-fold increase compared to a decade ago—to strengthen health systems and improve peoples’ health in low- and middle-income countries, the IFMPA report notes. These partnerships address a wide range of diseases and focus on prevention, improvements in health system infrastructures, training, pharmaceutical R&D, and medicine and vaccine donations. Thus, industry plays an important role in advancing progress toward the health-related MDGs. Specifically, of these 220 partnerships:
- 20% focus on HIV/AIDS
- 16% focus on Neglected Tropical Diseases
- 16% focus on Women and Children’s Health
- 14% focus on Malaria; and
- 14% focus on Non-Communicable diseases
Moreover, 79% of these partnerships focus on training, while 38% focus on awareness raising, prevention and outreach, and 36% focus on improving availability of treatments.
IFPMA members also engages in a wider set of in-kind donations reflecting other elements that impact access to health in developing countries. Volunteerism, capacity building programs, voluntary and royalty-free licenses, and training initiatives are just some examples that demonstrate IFPMA’s long-term commitment beyond donations. Because access goes beyond the simple provision of medicines to patients in need, these programs also target systemic issues through efforts to strengthen local healthcare capacity and educate patients and populations at risk.
Additionally, the IFPMA noted the following statistics with respect to neglected tropical diseases or NTDs:
- 132 R&D projects to develop new medicines and vaccines, 85% of which are carried out through collaborative approaches;
- The IFPMA is the 3rd largest founder of R&D for NTDs
- Investment in NTD research reached $525.1 million in 2011
- 7 R&D centers are dedicated solely to searching for new cures for NTDs; and
- 14 billion treatments will be donated between 2011 and 2020, which will help eliminate or control the nine NTDs causing more than 90% of the global NTDburden.
Eduardo Pisani, IFPMA Director General, says, “The United Nations calls for the ‘engagement of responsible business and civil society’ and recognizes the ‘need to pool efforts as never before.’ This call for action resonates strongly with the research-based pharmaceutical industry – where expanding access to healthcare and meeting unmet medical needs are at the very core of our daily operations.”
While the world should not lose sight of the unfinished business in the current health-related MDGs, emerging issues such as diabetes, cancer, respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, will increasingly challenge health systems worldwide in the next fifteen years. Eighty (80) percent of deaths due to these ‘non-communicable’ diseases occur in low- and middle-income countries and will inevitably increase pressure to find cost-effective interventions to prevent or treat diseases.
“To maximize the impact of private sector action on global health goals, we need proactive, cross-sector engagement in framing the next set of development goals,” says Eduardo Pisani. “The original MDGs were conceived without a clear map as to how the private sector could contribute. Pharmaceutical companies came to the fore anyway—recognizing the criticality of their unique contributions. But we know that there is no sector—not government, not civil society, not industry—that can alone drive the system-wide change that is required to address the most intractable health challenges.”
Benefits for Children in Low-and Middle-Income Countries
Enhancing birth safety: IFPMA programs strengthen the capacity of community health workers to effectively manage obstetric, neonatal, and infant emergencies. Training birth attendants drastically reduces childbirth complications and decreases newborn fatalities. Safe birth initiatives look at addressing birth asphyxia by training health workers and provide relevant equipment and supplies. We also donate products to improve child health, including rehydration solutions, antibiotics, multivitamins and nutritional supplements.
Fighting pediatric malnutrition: Companies provide on-site training seminars and cooking demonstrations for parents and teachers, teaching them about propernutritional needs and care as well as how to use local materials and resources. They also help build school kitchens, donate food, fortified products, multi-vitamins and minerals, and therapeutic food used to treat severe malnutrition in children. These initiatives also aim to empower local communities by supporting local farms and promoting economic development.
Ensuring access to adequate sanitation: Campaigns have been established to raise awareness of the benefits of handwashing and improved sanitation, by focusing on mothers and other caregivers of children under the age of five, and on schools and school-aged children, who themselves are often caregivers of their younger siblings. Programs provide teachers with child-friendly, relevant educational materials and it is also synonymous with concurrent development of water, sanitation and hand washing facilities in schools.
Treating children at risk of tropical diseases: Children are the most heavily affected population.Companies are active in school-based deworming effortsto eliminate soil transmitted helminthiases (STH) andshistosomiasis. They donate millions of treatments, teachhygiene practices, and help increase access to cleanwater and sanitation facilities as part of a comprehensivestrategy to reduce the global burden of these diseases.
Delivering mass vaccinations: Research-based pharmaceutical companies play an important role in protecting the world from preventable diseases like tuberculosis, diphtheria, tetanus, hepatitis B, influenza, rubella, polio and measles – among many others –by providing vaccines at not-for-profit prices or less.
Empowering Mothers
Partnerships train nurses, midwives and health educators to provide skilled assistance during pregnancy, labor and delivery, as well as to care for infants and children. These programs help reduce common risks like post-partum hemorrhage and preeclampsia using health workshops, group discussions, peer education programs,
exhibitions, and educational film showings. Companies also donate products to improve maternal and child health, including rehydration solutions, antibiotics, multivitamins and nutritional supplements.
Strengthening healthcare capabilities: Companies help strengthen health infrastructures by building birth centers and health clinics, equipping hospitals and providing them with essential medicines. Mobile healthcare field clinics help provide greater access to medical and primary healthcare and save many lives in areas that are far from regular healthcare facilities.
Informing through m-Health and e-Health: Mobile technology is used to improve the lives of pregnant women, new mothers and their families. Examples include: delivery of vital information to new and expectant mothers, reminders of clinic appointments and targeted messages encouraging the uptake of vaccination services for children. M-health also improves access to life-saving medicines at the point of care by eliminating medicine stock-outs at the health facility level. E-learning tools enable a large number of health workers to be trained cost-effectively. They comprise training modules in pregnancy care, childbirth, newborn care, and postnatal care of both mothers and babies.
Expanding access to family planning: Family planning reduces women’s exposure to health risks of unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions. Companies provide a wide range of oral contraceptives to family planning organizations. Family planning programs help people stay informed and make independent decisions concerning their family size, taking into account the best possible conditions for the future of their children. Teenage pregnancy prevention is also one of the key social challenges in the fight against poverty. IFPMA programs train teachers and increase communities’ awareness about pregnancy risks and provide information on reproductive choices.