High-Impact Investment Can Accelerate Global Health

In every country of the world, illness is a daily reality. Our job at Lilly is to make it better.

We do that by discovering new medicines, of course. We also share our resources to improve the health of communities around the globe.

Today, Lilly joined with four other health companies and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to fund community health workers in up to six African countries. We believe this $18 million total investment can lower barriers to quality care and medicines that save and improve people’s lives.

The funding will help two organizations deploy 2,500 community health workers and equip them with digital tools. These workers will reach nearly 1.7 million people by 2022.

Lilly continues to prioritize investment in community health workers, and it’s easy to see why. They can yield a 10:1 return on investment, due to healthier populations, increased employment and fewer health crises. Lilly has supported community health workers in Mexico, South Africa, India and our hometown of Indianapolis.

Today’s announcement will advance Lilly’s efforts to improve access to quality health care in communities around the world that have limited resources, with a goal to help 30 million people annually by 2030.

It’s also a model of how private companies can collaborate to accelerate progress toward universal health coverage. The United Nations has set a goal to achieve worldwide universal health coverage – defined as access to quality, essential health care without financial hardship, for every person – by 2030.

To close the gap, it’s critical for governments to partner with private organizations to make high-impact investments that reach more people around the world. That’s what today’s announcement is all about.

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