UCB's Global Corporate Website

Non-communicable diseases: translating words into action

Picture of author John-Kenneth Billingsley
Posted by
John-Kenneth Billingsley, External Engagement
27-Sep-2018
Many of the people around the world who benefit from our medicines are living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), such as rheumatoid arthritis and epilepsy. NCDs, which also include cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and mental health disorders, are the leading causes of death and disability worldwide.

We are proud of the difference we make in patients’ lives but we know that we can amplify our impact further through collaborations. That is why we are working with more than 20 biopharma companies to tackle the burden of NCDs in low and middle-income countries.

As part of Access Accelerated, UCB and our partners aim to co-create scalable and sustainable solutions to improve people’s health. A high-level meeting in New York this week will lay the groundwork for future cooperation on this vital issue.

Access Accelerated has already recorded significant progress in its mission to improve care for people with NCDs. For example, the organisation is a trusted partner in Kenya where it works with the Ministry of Health and the full range of stakeholders to address NCDs.

By combining our expertise and committing to a shared goal of better prevention, treatment and care, Access Accelerated has triggered the World Bank to scale up its funding and prioritisation of NCDs. Together, we are ushering in a new era of transparency and data collection on industry-led programs. This will allow us to better measure our impact in low and middle-income countries.

Access Accelerated has set out a bold vision for global health: a future where no one dies prematurely from treatable, preventable NCDs.

Delivering on the Access Accelerated vision
To coincide with the third UN High-level meeting on NCDs (UN HLM) in New York, Access Accelerated, coordinated by IFPMA, hosted an event that reflects on the work done to date and looks ahead to delivering on the Access Accelerated vision.

The event brings together senior stakeholders to explore how to translate commitments into actions. Following a keynote speech by Dr Sania Nishtar, CEO Heartfile, Co-Chair, WHO High-Level Commission on NCDs, two panel will discuss "Translating Global Commitments into Local Contexts and Collaboration for Sustainable Action" on NCDs with a special focus on Kenya.

We expect the New York meeting to further advance the work of Access Accelerated in highlighting the need to address NCDs and the practical steps health stakeholders can take to deliver for people living with ill-health.

UCB is proud to be an active participant in this major initiative. We are committed to playing our part in delivering on the bold vision of global health advocated by Access Accelerated.

Leave a Comment

By submitting your personal data, you agree with UCB's Data Privacy Policy. Furthermore, for more information on the terms of use of this website please visit our Legal Notice, accessible here.

CAPTCHA

Enter the characters shown in the image.

Comment:
Posted by Gunther L Faber, 1 October 2018

As a recipient of funding from Dr. Teuwen and his team, One Family Health, who currently operates 110 entry level primary healthcare clinics run by qualified nurses in Rwanda and providing quality healthcare to around 10% of the entire population, have seen the impact of the training of the nurses provided by UCB in identifying potential epilepsy cases.
The outcome of this training, and impact at community level, has seen the MOH proposing the inclusion of epilepsy therapy to the list of non-communicable diseases to be treated.