Health

Harsh prison conditions have been widely examined for their effects on the mental health of incarcerated people, but few studies have examined whether mental health status exposes individuals to harsh…

Callers to 911 in rural areas know they will have to wait longer than their city counterparts, but how much longer? And how long do you have…

As Black students confront dire mental health threats, one school district is encouraging them to share their struggles and lend support to their peers.

Commonwealth Fund graph from Health Policy Survey data Over a third of rural Americans will skip needed health care because they can’t affo…

Increasing the number of older people with both Medicaid and Medicare would mean fewer of them would be forced to skimp on the care and treatment they need.

Despite adversities, Indigenous Peoples of the Americas continue to thrive and develop solutions to social problems that help their communities—and the wider world.

Between aging out of WIC and entering kindergarten, a child’s diet can lose quality, according to new research on food assistance.

People with dementia end up in hospital ERs 1.4 million times a year. Better caregiver support could prevent future crises.

The shortages, which have been going on for years, have typically affected only low-cost generics rather than profitable brand-name drugs.

We could do more to allow these children to stay at home, instead of being forced into institutionalized care.

Certain video clips provided courtesy of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs and the producers of the Public Policy Case Collection: Impact Investing Case Study Series. A Health-Conscious Consumer Ernie Gutierrez of Compton, California Nearly every day, Ernie Gutierrez’s commute and errands take him right through the center of Compton, California, a working-class community just south of downtown Los Angeles. Gutierrez immigrated to southern California from Nicaragua as a ten-year-old boy and has lived in Compton most of his adult life. Over the years, his daily trips through the city center have left him all too familiar with the types of restaurants and food stores that typically open there: shops that, he says, tend to focus more on fast food and packaged goods than on good health. He sees few options for wholesome groceries. “There are some places where there are not enough stores or anything. And in some areas, there are stores, but the food that they provide – it’s just a lot of processed food,” says Gutierrez. “And all the fast food that you can think of! That’s what’s around here.” Indeed, large pockets of Compton sit in so-called “food deserts.”[i] That means residents of the city – where more than one in five live below the poverty line[ii] – have limited access to affordable, good-quality fresh food. That void has a deep ripple effect of negative consequences on community health. So, it is no surprise that Gutierrez took note when a restaurant opened with a radically different menu and approach. The new restaurant was called Everytable. Gutierrez says he was immediately taken by Everytable’s offering of healthy food options sold at a price that is affordable for the surrounding community. Over time, he has become one of the Compton store’s most loyal customers. He visits at least once a week and often picks up four or five meals per visit – effectively using Everytable as the healthy grocery store his neighborhood does not have. He says the impacts on his health have been noticeable. Gutierrez recognizes that those health benefits are also be compounding for others in the Compton community – a community where limited healthy food access and poverty intersect in troubling ways. Compared to the rest of Los Angeles County, data show that the greater Compton region has a 16% higher rate of obesity, along with high rates of diabetes and hypertension.[i] “There are so many people with so many problems that derive from bad diets,” says Gutierrez. In this way, Gutierrez is convinced that Everytable is part of “a solution” to Compton’s food desert problem and the serious health consequences associated with it. “It’s actually perfect,” he says. “It addresses that issue.” And he’s clearly not the only one who believes that. Since 2013, Everytable has opened nine locations across the greater Los Angeles area. And now, the company is eyeing a far larger expansion. The healthy food chain has grown, in part, thanks to “impact investments.” Impact investments help generate big social or environmental benefits – like increasing community health, fighting climate change, and reducing inequality – alongside a financial return for the investors. The recipient of that impact investment? A California entrepreneur with that fresh vision for affordable, high-quality food and healthy communities. A Visionary Entrepreneur Sam Polk, CEO of Everytable Everytable CEO Sam Polk originally planned a career in traditional finance. After growing up in Los Angeles, he took his first post-college job on Wall Street – where, he says, he quickly realized he was on a path that focused on little more than “maximizing my own wealth.” Dissatisfied with that future, Polk made a big change. He moved back to his hometown and refocused his efforts toward purpose-driven work. He set out to address the vastly unequal access to wholesome food that creates troubling health consequences across Southern California’s lower-income communities. At first, Polk launched a non-profit organization focused on teaching healthy cooking skills to families living in food deserts. But he quickly became convinced that his non-profit could not scale sufficiently to produce the big, broad impacts he was seeking. So, Polk shifted his approach in a big way. He handed over the reins to his non-profit, FEAST, and developed a for-profit business model. The new approach placed his underlying goals of community health and healthy food access on equal footing with a need to generate the financial profit that would allow him to expand. To meet that dual mandate, Polk had to be nimble and adaptive in his thinking. He turned the standard restaurant industry business model on its head and centralized all cooking into a common location to save costs. His restaurants have no kitchen – just a display case for the fresh, healthy food. And the price point? Just as inexpensive as the fast-food options nearby, and with a “sliding scale” of menu pricing based on the community’s income level. Over the next few years, Polk’s concept gained traction. Based on consumer demand, Everytable opened several new locations each year – bringing the current total to nine. Polk says his food chain has “a clear line of sight to serious profitability even in underserved markets.” Nowadays, he says Everytable is fielding interest from new, more traditional investors who see the potential to rapidly scale the chain and generate substantial financial returns. Eventually, Polk believes Everytable will become a nationwide business. For the impact investor who saw Everytable’s early potential, that exciting future highlights a tremendous success for impact investing. A Determined Impact Investor Jacqueline Novogratz, Founder and CEO of Acumen Acumen, a nonprofit global venture fund, invested in Everytable as part of its Acumen America portfolio in the United States in 2017. Like Polk, Acumen’s founder originally launched her career on Wall Street. And like Polk, Jacqueline Novogratz was not satisfied. So, in 1986, Novogratz quit her job and headed to West Africa to learn more about microfinance. In the years that followed, she worked at the highest levels of global philanthropy. But her deep knowledge about the power and efficiency of markets nagged at her, even as she worked in the non-profit sector. Novogratz longed to tackle problems of global poverty in a broader and more robust way. Novogratz founded Acumen in 2001 to bridge the gap between the efficiency and scale of market-based approaches and the social impact of pure philanthropy. Acumen is a member of the Global Impact Investing Network’s Investors’ Council – the industry’s leading forum for experienced impact investors to strengthen the field and their practice. Acumen invests “patient capital” – that is, philanthropically-backed investment capital—in early-stage social enterprises. Since its founding, it has invested $135 million to build more than 136 social enterprises across Africa, Latin America, South Asia, and the United States.[i] Everytable is one of Acumen America’s investees. Like Everytable, many of Acumen’s investee companies have scaled their early impact investment into much broader social and environmental benefit. Collectively, they have leveraged an additional $746 million and brought basic services like affordable education, health care, clean water, energy and sanitation to more than 308 million people. Novogratz sees Acumen America’s Everytable investment as representing the very best of impact investing: a market-based investment that addresses a deep social need while opening the door to growth and scale that philanthropy alone could never achieve. For her, it is proof that Acumen’s vision of a world where everyone has “the opportunity to build a life of dignity” can truly become reality. [i] https://www.comptonchamberofcommerce.org/greater-compton-region-food-desert [ii] https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/comptoncitycalifornia/PST040219 [iii] https://www.comptonchamberofcommerce.org/compton-nutrition-demographics [v] https://acumen.org/approach/ Explore other impact investing success stories here and here.

Key Lessons in Advancing Access to NCD Care: Collaboration, Connectivity, Community Download Report Welcome Since its launch in 2017, Access Accelerated has been at the forefront of efforts to tackle the worldwide challenge posed by noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and their impact on economic and social progress in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) across the globe. Our partnership, representing the global biopharmaceutical and life sciences industry, is unprecedented. Never before has the industry come together in such a concerted way to embark on a common mission designed to help realize the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including the aim of reducing, by 2030, premature deaths from NCDs by one third and achieving Health for All. To realize this vision, we have worked collectively — pooling our learnings, experience, knowledge, skills, and resources — to drive multisectoral partnerships that bring about real and lasting change in how we respond to NCDs. At the heart of this endeavor has been a recognition that no one organization or government can achieve this on its own. That is why local engagement is central to our collaborations. Through support for governments, national stakeholders, and civil society in their efforts, countries are delivering scalable, sustainable solutions that are firmly embedded within national health agendas and systems. Such collective efforts have brought about fundamental policy changes, strengthened health care systems, generated vital funding and investment, and ultimately given those living with NCDs a better chance to live longer, fuller, healthier lives. After all, people living with NCDs are at the heart of Access Accelerated. By investing in initiatives that help to empower them, we ensure that it is their experiences, needs, and hopes that inform the NCD response. Their voices are crucial for effective and sustainable change. Access Accelerated stands as a testament to the effectiveness of collaboration in making a lasting difference to the health and lives of people living with NCDs and those who support them. It has been a formidable task and we understand that, even after six years of learning and progress, much remains to be done. This report represents more than a celebration of our collective efforts: it is a powerful call to action to take all that we have learned over the past six years and use it to build momentum, leverage opportunities for impact, and strengthen action. Our present and future success depends on it. FOREWORD Underlying our work at Access Accelerated is a commitment to supporting the goals set forth by the United Nations to promote global peace, prosperity, and progress. In particular, the target to reduce premature deaths from NCDs and to achieve Health for All by 2030. With less than seven years to go, this deadline is fast approaching. Read More MARTIN BERNHARDT Director, Access Accelerated INVESTMENT AND REACH IN 2022 By Access Accelerated partners 700 million Number of people covered 37 Number of countries 1.6 billion USD Investment leveraged REACH AND COVERAGE 2017-2021 By Access Accelerated member companies and partners 145 Number of countries 172 Number of programs 31 NCDs addressed VISIT THE AA OPEN PLATFORM A NOTE FROM OUR PARTNERS The world is facing a cascade of global crises. Among them is the rising burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), which is often not only overshadowed but exacerbated by other global challenges. Yet the reality is that NCDs pose a serious and growing threat to economies, health systems and health equity, particularly in LMICs, where people are twice as likely to die from these conditions. Read More ACTIONS, OUTCOMES AND IMPACT In 2022, Access Accelerated partners pursued 54 projects in 37 countries, covering all regions around the world. Nine projects had a global scope and eight projects worked at regional level. These projects reached over 700 million people. In 2022 over 21 million people were screened for a risk factor related to NCDs, over 11 million people were diagnosed, and over 3.5 million people received treatments. These numbers show remarkable increases compared to 2021 figures: the number of people diagnosed increased by a factor of 1178, while the number of people screened and receiving treatment respectively increased by 1505% and 1140%.In 2022 partners leveraged over 1.6 billion USD, totalling nearly 3.7 billion USD through the second phase of Access Accelerated (2020-2022). Moreover, partners developed over 200 knowledge products in 2022. These knowledge products supported the training of 5,644 people in 2022. Download Report STORIES FROM PARTNERS Quantified results from both 2022 and cumulatively through the second phase of Access Accelerated tell the story of sustained efforts across six years of partnership. No impact would be possible without the strategic partners organizations’ commitments to working hand in hand with local governments and stakeholders, nor without their dedication to developing programs that are sensitive and responsive to people’s and countries’ needs. The story of 2022 and phase 2 achievements testify to partners’ creation of connective tissue in their zeal to see improved NCD outcomes for all.Access Accelerated partners achieved tangible and important contributions to the initiative’s goals. The stories in the report highlight how these have been made possible. KEY LEARNINGS Access Accelerated is one of a limited number of partnerships with an exclusive focus on NCDs. As such, it is a pioneering effort in paving the way for engagement with the private sector to address complex, systems-wide health issues. Access Accelerated provides evidence that stakeholders in the biopharmaceutical and life science industry can set aside competing interests to unite for a common vision to address NCDs, serving as an example of how the private sector can become a meaningful actor in processes of change towards shared societal goals. READ THE FULL REPORT 1 Open, transparent communication and measurement are essential to capture intangible impacts 2 Flexible, non-competing and long-term funding offers a unique opportunity to develop locally-embedded solutions 3 New ways of addressing diseases are possible and necessary, especially to achieve broader health goals 4 Community- and patient-centric approaches are essential to sustainability 5 Change takes time THE FUTURE OF MEASURING COLLECTIVE IMPACT Measurement is critical to extracting knowledge and driving system-level change that will improve the NCD landscape. From an operational perspective, it provides an indication of the effectiveness and health of a multisectoral collaboration, exposing what is going well and which areas need course-correcting. Read More Stories From the Ground Patient-Centricity is Key CHRISTOPHER AGBEGA Patient advocate Though Chris was 16 when the first symptoms started to appear, it would take another nine years until he was formally diagnosed with Hereditary Motor Sensory Neuropathy, aged 25. The rare disease, also known as Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease, is an inherited, progressive disease of the nerves resulting in sensory loss, muscle weakness, and atrophy. Today, through the NCD Alliance and its program Our Views, Our Voices, Chris is a passionate advocate for young people living with hereditary conditions, channeling his lived experience towards empowering the patient community and demanding stronger action on NCDs. Read More Stories From the Ground INVOLVING PEOPLE LIVING WITH NCDS Dr. Catherine Karekezi Executive Director, NCD Alliance Kenya The Non-communicable Diseases Alliance Kenya (NCDAK) unites organizations led by persons living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), NGOs, and professional associations to advocate for and support individuals living with or at risk of NCDs in Kenya.Catherine Karekezi, the organization’s Executive Director, is passionate about involving individuals living with NCDs in advocacy efforts across the country, as well as partnering with the Ministry of Health to create a greater ripple effect and to continually push the NCD agenda forward. Read More Stories From the Ground SEEING THE BIGGER PICTURE Labram Musah National Coordinator, Ghana NCD Alliance Access Accelerated supports the NCD Alliance to elevate the voices of people living with non-communicable diseases (NCDs), building on our shared commitment to meaningfully involve those affected in the creation of sustainable solutions. Labram Musah, the National Coordinator of the Ghana NCD Alliance shares how the NCD Alliance’s Our Views, Our Voices initiative training model has boosted advocacy efforts to help policy makers in the country see a more complete picture of the needs of individuals living with NCDs, and how they hope to scale-up this important tool. Read More Stories From the Ground PRIORITIZING NCDS TO ADVANCE UHC Dr. Hajime Inoue Advisor, Health Nutrition and Population program, World Bank Group Achieving healthcare for all requires leaning into a strong NCD response. Over the last six years, Access Accelerated and the World Bank Group have worked together to advance sustainable and scalable solutions to NCD prevention treatment, and care. World Bank advisor, Dr. Hajime Inoue, discusses the need to incorporate NCD care in the UHC agenda if we are to achieve equitable and resilient healthcare systems, and how his formative experience as a doctor was invaluable in shaping and informing his role as an advocate for UHC. Read More Stories From the Ground DISSEMINATING CVD GUIDELINES IN KENYA Dr. Lilian Mbau CEO, Kenyan Cardiac Society In 2018, Kenya’s Ministry of Health (MOH) spearheaded the development of national guidelines for the prevention and management of cardiovascular disease (CVD) to provide a standardized way of managing heart health in the country. With the support of Access Accelerated and the World Heart Federation, the Kenya Cardiac Society (KCS) joined forces with the MOH to disseminate the guidelines to healthcare facilities across Kenya. Read More Stories From the Ground POTENTIAL OF COLLECTIVE IMPACT Kyle Peterson Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Boldly Go Philathropy Boldly Go Philanthropy helps companies and foundations around the world maximize their philanthropic efforts. Co-founder and managing director, Kyle Peterson explains why connectivity and infrastructure are key to coordinating action and making an impact – especially when confronting a problem as complex as NCDs. Below, he sheds light on the changing landscape of partnerships, and why the Access Accelerated model is the way forward in bringing about systems-level change. Read More Stories From the Ground PEOPLE CENTERED APPROACH TO NCDS Dr. Truong Dinh Bac Deputy Director General of the General Department of Preventative Medicines Ministry of Health, Vietnam Dr. Truong Dinh Bac is helping to lead efforts in Vietnam to combat noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), including hypertension and diabetes. With an estimated half of the affected population unaware of their conditions, Vietnam’s leaders are taking crucial steps to address this gap by uniting efforts with community volunteers and health care professionals to deliver innovative, people-centered solutions to NCD prevention and management. Read More Stories From the Ground FUTURE SCIENCE OF COLLECTIVE IMPACT Emma Ross Senior Research Fellow, Global Health Programme Chatham House Expanding access to healthcare is a complex challenge requiring a whole-of-society approach, too large for either the public or the private sector to solve alone. In recent years, the appreciation and appetite for partnership and cooperation has deepened as the value of this approach has become more apparent. We’ve seen a shift away from siloed efforts toward cross-sector collaborations as a mechanism to address global health issues, especially the burden of noncommunicable diseases.The emergence of multistakeholder cooperation across diverse sectors has brought a growing recognition that we need more sustainable ways of partnering if we are to effect long-lasting impact. Read More Stories From the Ground REACHING HEARTS AND CHANGING MINDS Jean-Luc Eiselé CEO, World Heart Federation Cardiovascular health is embedded in a much broader context of societal, environmental, and commercial factors. Unless these interconnections are better understood, dealing with CVDs in isolation is likely to fail.Elements such as climate change, the way we produce and consume food, the quality of the air we breathe and of the water we drink are all part of our vision of healthy hearts and a healthy planet. Read More “A concentrated effort to listen and work with stakeholders maintained our focus on sustainable innovations that make a difference for people living with NCDs.” Helen McGuire Global NCD Program Leader, PATH That mutual trust and co-creation with Access Accelerated. Having them on that innovation journey with us, allowed us to do something which is new but also very practical. Jade Chakowa Head of Effectiveness and Impact, City Cancer Challenge Foundation Organizing the private sector as a cohesive group rather than competing voices has helped advance this shared agenda for NCDs. Engaging with different key stakeholders like governments and presenting as a unified, cohesive front has really promoted the whole-of-society approach Cristina Parsons Perez Capacity Development Director, NCD Alliance THE ROAD AHEAD As Access Accelerated approaches the end of its second phase, looking back at what has been accomplished over six years of partnership enables us to look ahead. The model of Access Accelerated has presented a united, cohesive front for the private sector to engage in NCD action. As the initiative has matured over time, not only has it attracted and leveraged new investments from stakeholders in the life sciences industry, but it also catalyzed investments. This increased funding for NCDs represents a fundamental shift in global attention.Beyond funding, Access Accelerated has presented a unique opportunity to align multiple actors under one shared goal. At the core of this has been concerted action to create solutions that address people’s and countries’ NCD needs. This patient-centricity and context-specific approach serves as a proof of concept on how working with local stakeholders enables projects to become locally embedded. As NCD programming continues to proliferate, it is essential that a similar approach, responsive to local needs, continues as a best practice model.Access Accelerated has also paved the way for new modes of thinking about NCD programming. Siloed and fragmented approaches still permeate the life sciences industry and global health thinking, and moreover, programming does not always measure NCD-related benefits. Access Accelerated gave freedom to its strategic partners to not only think creatively about how and why NCDs ought to be integrated with universal health coverage and primary health care, but it has also offered a way of capturing impacts that extend beyond the hard numbers. This has the potential to transform our approaches to measurement, recognizing the vast impact that local engagement, trust, and social capital can bring to improved NCD outcomes over longer periods of time.Initiatives in global health can look to Access Accelerated programming for inspiration on how to move towards a more transversal, horizontal approach to health that involves people living with NCDs. As donors, actors and initiatives evolve and change, institutionalizing this approach will continue to serve social needs. Lastly, the lessons from Access Accelerated showcase how growth in expertise, competencies, and networks can be catalyzed when actors work together. As actors join in NCD action, having a sense that more can be accomplished by working together will remain essential to seeing remarkable results similar to those accomplished through Access Accelerated.Initiatives like Access Accelerated are groundbreaking in their ability to create tangible examples of collaboration, especially where there is a lack of concerted action, such as in the case of NCDs. The deeply transformative, creative, and nimble approaches pioneered through the consortium remain a testament to the power of joining forces to address societal challenges and the long-term commitment needed to create sustainable change. THANK YOU Thank you to all past and present member companies who have been part of the Access Accelerated journey: