Leading the way on access and global health
Improving access to medicines remains one of the world’s greatest healthcare challenges. At Novartis, we know that building trust with society depends not only on finding new treatments but also on making them available to as many people as possible. Our 2021 materiality assessment identified access as one of our most material topics.
56.2 m
Patients reached
through access approaches
We seek to expand access to our medicines to underserved patient populations in both developed and developing countries, while addressing major global health challenges. We reached 56.2 million patients in 2021 through access approaches, and we have set ambitious targets to reinforce our commitments. Relevant members of the Executive Committee of Novartis have access metrics in their annual performance objectives.
The Access to Medicine Foundation has recognized our efforts in this area, ranking us second in the 2021 Access to Medicine Index among 20 of the world’s largest healthcare companies.
Novartis access principles
We aim to implement an access strategy for all new medicines launched. These strategies include innovative pricing and access models, earlier launches in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and approaches to strengthen healthcare systems. Information in this chapter on access and global health is organized according to the three pillars of the Novartis access principles (see infographic below).
Novartis access principles
Our targets for access and global health
In 2020, Novartis committed to increase patient reach with our strategic innovative therapies in LMICs by at least 200% by 2025 (vs. 2019). In addition, we aim to increase patient reach of our four global health flagship programs in LMICs by at least 50% over the same period. To reinforce our commitment to these targets, we issued a EUR 1.85 billion sustainability-linked bond1 in 2020. Bondholders are entitled to receive a higher amount of interest if Novartis does not meet its access targets.
We are on track to meet our targets. In 2021, we achieved a 36% increase in patient reach with our strategic innovative therapies compared with the previous year (up 73% from 2019). Patients reached through our global flagship programs declined by 26% from the prior year, when we saw a sharp increase due to our ability to maintain delivery despite wider COVID-19 related supply disruptions. However, the latest figure was still more than double our 2019 baseline (please see the "Access to healthcare performance indicators" table below for more details).
1 For more information on our SLB, including measurement criteria, please see the bond prospectus at www.novartis.com/slbprospectus
Our global health priorities
Our work on global health is aligned with our overall efforts to expand access to our medicines. We follow an integrated approach for the control or elimination of four diseases where there has been market failure and little investment in research and development:
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder that affects more than 6 million people worldwide. While around 80% of the global disease burden is in Africa, SCD also affects approximately 100 000 children and adults in the US. Novartis is exploring new therapeutics and working to improve care for SCD patients in both developed and developing countries.
Chagas disease affects approximately 6 million people, mainly in Latin America. Starting as a parasitic disease, it can lead to chronic cardiac disorders in up to 30% of patients. Novartis is active in drug discovery for new antiparasitic compounds and clinical research on Chagas cardiomyopathy, as well as health system strengthening initiatives.
Malaria is preventable and curable, yet it remains one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world. Novartis has been at the forefront of the fight against malaria for more than two decades, launching the first fixed-dose artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) and working with partners to deliver more than 1 billion antimalarials, the majority without profit.
Leprosy causes physical disability and stigma for approximately 1.5 million people worldwide. Multidrug therapy donated by Novartis has been a cornerstone of global elimination efforts, leading to the treatment of more than 7 million people since 2000. In addition, through the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD), we continue to research and develop a promising portfolio of drug candidates for the treatment of neglected tropical diseases that affect around 1.6 billion people worldwide, including dengue fever, diarrheal disease and visceral leishmaniasis.
For more information on our global health priorities, please see www.novartis.com/esg/global-health
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2021 |
2020 |
2019 |
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Overall patients reached (millions) |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
Patients reached with medicines – total |
766 |
769 |
799 |
||||||||||||||
Patients reached through access approaches1 |
56.2 |
66.4 |
15.6 |
||||||||||||||
Sustainability-linked bond (September 23, 2020 – September 23, 2028) |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
Patients reached with strategic innovative therapies |
947 699 |
695 669 |
547 664 |
||||||||||||||
Patients reached through flagship programs |
32 695 224 |
43 912 152 |
15 069 483 |
||||||||||||||
Novartis Global Health2, 3 |
|
|
|
||||||||||||||
Countries with medicines on the ground |
122 |
115 |
33 |
||||||||||||||
FTEs4, 5 |
1 330 |
1 334 |
786 |
||||||||||||||
Patients reached with medicines through Novartis Global Health (millions)6 |
55.5 |
65.8 |
15.1 |
||||||||||||||
Health educators trained |
2 827 |
671 |
1 536 |
||||||||||||||
Healthcare providers trained |
10 719 |
12 648 |
1 516 |
||||||||||||||
Policymakers trained |
176 |
90 |
145 |
||||||||||||||
Points of service provision7 |
4 365 |
5 902 |
13 635 |
||||||||||||||
People reached at points of service provision |
360 356 |
486 642 |
986 701 |
||||||||||||||
Awareness events held |
412 872 |
424 878 |
250 432 |
||||||||||||||
People reached at awareness events |
9 678 360 |
8 048 360 |
10 211 704 |
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