A new step toward making “health for all” a reality

Guest Authors:

Sebastian Guth , Chief Operating Officer, Bayer Pharmaceuticals

Dr. Claus Runge , SVP, Global Head of Market Access, Public Affairs & Sustainability, Bayer Pharmaceuticals

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We all know that “health is wealth” – that our physical and mental wellbeing are the greatest and most valuable assets we can possess. But too often, the reverse is true, and “wealth is health.” Statistics bear this out: people living in higher-GDP nations can expect to?live longer ?and?enjoy more healthy years ?than those in lower-GDP countries, while at an individual level, lower incomes are associated with a?higher risk for disease and significantly shorter lifespans . Such health inequities are deeply entrenched in modern society, with?recent data ?showing that half the world’s population is not covered by essential health services, and that

a quarter of the world’s population has experienced?financial hardship due to out-of-pocket spending on health.

This is a human tragedy on a vast scale and fundamentally threatens progress toward the 2015?United Nations?Sustainable Development Goals?(SDG), which enshrined health as a fundamental human right and outlined how countries across the world can meet this promise.

As our colleague Matthias Berninger has underlined throughout this article series, big companies like Bayer have a clear duty to contribute to the SDGs by helping solve society’s biggest challenges and achieving tangible results in areas where they can have the deepest impact. At Bayer, we are profoundly committed to this notion, and have embedded it into our operations through?a?simple,?yet far-reaching and?ambitious mission — Health for all, Hunger for none.

Delivering?“health for all”?requires a?relentless drive?for innovation to better serve patients around the globe.?An even bigger task, however, is to create?greater access to medicines and systemically removing barriers to care, especially in underserved and underprivileged communities.

Only by opening up access and improving affordability can we ensure that as many patients as possible receive the care they need.?

Over the years, Bayer has undertaken many impressive and successful initiatives to reduce health inequity across the globe. Our efforts are reflected in improved performance on rankings like the index compiled and published by the?Access to Medicine Foundation . However, we realized we needed an extra push to?reach?the ambitious targets we have set?for?ourselves: fulfilling the need of 100 million women annually in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) for modern contraception by 2030, doing our important part in eliminating 20 neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) by 2030, and helping address the growing global burden of non-communicable disease.?

To turbocharge our efforts, we are?pleased to?announce the launch of our?dedicated?Global Health Unit which will work hand in hand with our Worldwide Markets team.

It will drive collaboration with community and government partners to improve access to medicines, primarily – but not exclusively – in LMICs. In particular, the Global Health Unit will focus its efforts on countries where Bayer has no or limited presence, thus enabling us to significantly expand the reach of our patient affordability programs, innovative access models, capacity-building platforms, and digital education. We are convinced that this?focused?initiative will improve the health outcomes and lives of those around the world who are in most desperate need of better access to medicines and care.

Growing access to family planning?can save lives and boost livelihoods

Let’s start by looking at the area of family planning – an issue that is central to improving women’s health, economic status, and achieving sustainable development. As a leading global pharmaceutical producer of contraceptives, Bayer has been supporting?family planning?programs in more than 130 countries for over 50 years. In 2019, we committed to fulfilling the need?of providing modern contraception to?100 million women in LMICs by 2030 annually. In 2023, we reached about 46 million of those women by enhancing the accessibility and affordability of our products?and by bringing to life a broad range of partnerships and capacity-building programs. For instance, in LMICs where women?are most often required to?pay for contraceptives themselves, we apply equitable tiered pricing schemes and Patient Affordability Programs (PAPs). We also?collaborate with international partners and reputable aid organizations including the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) where we provide our products at low cost- to enable access.?

In LMICs in particular,?unplanned pregnancies mean that?millions of women are losing out on education, economic opportunities,?and could potentially risk?their health and even their lives.?The Global Health Unit will help?address key barriers to access to modern contraception by enhancing accessibility and affordability of our products, as well as by strengthening the range of partnerships and capacity-building programs that we have brought to life. We are thrilled that the Global Health Unit has already taken the first step in this strategy by signing a strategic supply and distribution partnership with Hayat Biotech, a biotech company headquartered in the United Arab Emirates. The collaboration will focus on boosting access to modern contraception to around half a million women in Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda, Chad, and Somalia.

Addressing neglected tropical diseases is crucial to solving health disparities

Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) are a group of conditions caused by a variety of pathogens – viruses, bacteria, parasites, fungi and toxins – that are mainly prevalent among impoverished communities in tropical areas. Often ignored by the global health agenda, their treatment is significantly hampered by a lack of funding and research. They are thus simultaneously a victim of and contributor to worsening health inequities: they thrive in marginalized communities with poor access to clean water and sanitation, largely affect regions without quality healthcare, and are associated with “devastating health, social and economic consequences ,” according to the World Health Organization (WHO).?

Bayer’s Global Health Unit will support the WHO NTD roadmap aiming to permanently eliminate 20 NTDs by 2030. For nearly 20 years, we have?provided the WHO with essential drugs ,?free of charge,?to treat African sleeping sickness,?Chagas disease?and pork tapeworm, as well as funding their distribution in affected countries.?This effort has reaped staggering rewards, contributing to a 97% reduction in new cases of African sleeping sickness over the last two decades. Chagas disease and many other NTDs like pork tapeworm and onchocerciasis (which can lead to incurable river blindness) remain severe ongoing issues. However, we?reaffirmed our commitment in 2022 by signing the?Kigali Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases .?We have additional ongoing partnerships with the?Brazilian Institute for?Pharmaceutical?Technology, the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, as well as Europe’s?Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), which aim to develop therapies and treatments for the world’s most prevalent and harmful NTDs.

Non-Communicable Disease:?the highest?burden?falls?on those who can least afford it

Non-communicable diseases are a major global health challenge with tremendous disease burden and high unmet medical?need – and therefore represent another area for the Global Health Unit to unite Bayer teams worldwide behind even more compelling access initiatives.?

Cardiovascular?disease?accounts?for?approximately?four in every five deaths . The scale of the problem is set to grow, too, with the number of cardiovascular patients expected to double worldwide by 2030. However, there is huge potential for reducing the deadly power of cardiovascular diseases:?up to 80% of premature heart attacks and strokes can be prevented , and medicine has made enormous strides in the last 50 years. The challenge is reaching the communities who need them most.

As an example, Bayer’s Global Health Unit will address this challenge by?partnering with the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) and local health authorities in Ghana to develop?the?Ghana Heart Initiative ,?a role model project to?strengthen the healthcare system and?establish an integrated diagnosis, treatment, and continuous education concept for CVD.?

Health inequities exist across the globe, however – not just in LMICs. At Bayer, we therefore also work to serve underprivileged communities in high income countries like the U.S., which?studies consistently show ?has one of the highest levels of health inequality among high-GDP countries.?To?meet the need?for modern contraceptives?of Americans living in rural areas (a typically?underserved community ), Bayer is continuing our second three-year partnership with Direct Relief. The goal is to expand access to contraceptive products and services for the US safety-net network, which reaches communities in all 50 states and US territories. Bayer implemented a multi-year commitment to donate intrauterine devices (IUDs) that are available to eligible patients at clinics in underserved communities. Bayer has also funded a Community Awards program, which makes funds available to clinics?with the goal of expanding?contraceptive access programs that address the biggest gaps within specific communities.

To tackle the burden caused by cardiovascular disease in the U.S., we are partnering with the National Kidney Foundation (NKF)?to provide easier access to health screenings and basic preventative care to manage the?disproportionate burden of chronic kidney diseases ?on racial/ethnic minority and?low-income populations. Bayer is also working with NKF and organizations like the American Society of Nephrology and American Association of Kidney Patients to advocate for open access to FDA-approved and guideline-directed and evidence-based therapies for chronic kidney disease. As a result, one of the largest insurance companies changed its formulary to cover finerenone, supporting patients with CKD and Type II Diabetes so they have additional choices in treatment to slow the progression of CKD.

The Global Health Unit will greatly accelerate our ability to help bridge the health gap

Addressing health access and equity requires long-term, systemic and coordinated change across the entire continuum of care that includes participation from pharmaceutical companies, health care practitioners, patient advocacy groups and policy makers. We are proud of the steps that Bayer has already taken in contributing to this change. Equally, we?are excited to see what the future holds as our Global Health Unit strengthens our ongoing work, generates new activities, and helps us improve the lives and livelihoods of millions?of people?around the globe.?

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