BioVoice News June 2017 Issue 1 Volume 2 | Page 33

Please tell our readers about the objective behind the creation of Novartis Access? As a healthcare company, one of our main objectives has always been to expand access to medicines in lower-income countries. If you look at WHO figures, there are 400 million people worldwide who don’t have access to essential medicines. This is something Novartis has actively been trying to change: getting medicines to more people who need them, at prices they can afford. The Novartis Access portfolio was launched in 2015 and specifically targets noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in lower- and lower-middle- income countries. These are diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, hypertension, and breast cancer. Because of the correlation between these conditions and urban lifestyles, we tend to associate them with high- income countries. What is slipping under the radar is that they are actually a growing problem in poorer countries. In India, for example, they make up more than half of the disease burden. In the developing world, we see 31 million deaths a year from chronic diseases. That’s almost three quarters of the world total. What have been the achievements of the program so far? In terms of what we have achieved, one of our success stories is Kenya, which was the first country to implement Novartis Access. We are building partnerships with organizations on the ground there – to educate the population, to train healthcare workers, to screen for and treat NCDs. Ten out of the fifteen medicines in the Novartis Access portfolio were approved in Kenya last year and we are hoping to have monthly treatments available in all 47 Kenyan counties by the end of this year at a very low cost to health systems. How do you view the healthcare access scenario in India? What role will Novartis Access play here? The healthcare access scenario in India is very challenging, leaving millions of people without access. There’s a shortage of around 500,000 doctors in India. That’s the number the country would need to meet WHO guidelines for doctor- patient ratio, which should be 1:1000. India’s is about 1:1700. As always, ingenuity is one India’s great assets and the use of technology is helping the country to overcome this shortfall. We are working There’s a shortage of around 500,000 doctors in India. That’s the number the country would need to meet WHO guidelines for doctor-patient ratio, which should be 1:1000. India’s is about 1:1700 BIOVOICENEWS.COM 33