Global Compact International Yearbook 2017

“COMING TOGETHER TO
TACKLE NON-COMMUNICABLE
DISEASES”
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, chronic
respiratory diseases, diabetes, and mental disorders are the leading causes of death and
disability worldwide. NCDs have emerged as a major public health threat over the last few
decades and are now at a crisis point. It is estimated that these diseases are responsible
for as many as 36 million premature deaths each year. According to the World Health
Organization, almost three-quarters of NCD-related deaths occur in low- and middle-income
countries, where access to healthcare is limited.
By Ophra Rebiere and Martin Bernhardt, Sanofi
In 2017, Sanofi launched the Access Accelerated
Initiative (AAI) together with
21 companies, the World Bank, and the
Union for International Cancer Control
(UICC). The new coalition’s aim is to address
the burden of NCDs in low- and
lower-middle-income countries and to
reduce premature deaths from NCDs by
one-third by 2030 in order to achieve one
of the Sustainable Development Goals of
the United Nations. The initiative runs as
an initial three-year commitment to develop,
measure, and replicate sustainable
programs. By building on longstanding
individual company programs in global
health, AAI will address a variety of
access barriers to the prevention, treatment,
and care of NCDs.
Sanofi is proud to be a founding partner
of the Access Accelerated Initiative. Our
active participation in the AAI is rooted
in our longstanding efforts to help ensure
that appropriate and innovative
treatments are made accessible to all
those who need them.
Sanofi’s initial commitment includes
programs spanning cancer prevention
and treatment, diabetes prevention, as
well as raising awareness and building
capacity about mental health. These
projects are part of a wider network
that includes more than 20 other projects
from all the partner companies,
each playing a role to advance the fight
against NCDs.
My Child Matters – fighting childhood
cancer
Each year, nearly 300,000 children and
adolescents are diagnosed with cancer.
About 80 percent of them live in
countries with limited resources and
where cure rates hover around 40 percent
– and as low as 10–20 percent
in some sub-Saharan African countries
– compared to more than 80 percent in
developed countries.
Due to this dramatic situation, the Sanofi
Espoir Foundation set up the “My Child
Matters” program 11 years ago in order
to fight childhood cancers.
In partnership with the UICC, the St.
Jude Children’s Research Hospital, the
International Society of Pediatric Oncology,
the GFAOP (Franco-African Pediatric
Oncology Group), and the Alliance
Mondiale Contre le Cancer. “My Child
Matters” fuses financial support, the
expertise of cancer specialists from the
world over, and contributes to building
capacity at the local level in different
ways, among others:
• training healthcare professionals
• creating and disseminating relevant
information about childhood cancer
(including cancer registries and epidemiologic
data)
• encouraging earlier detection
• improving access to treatment and
care
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Global Compact International Yearbook 2017