Stories

Parts of Cameroon have rates of epilepsy that are among the highest in the world. Despite the availability of effective therapies, poverty, a lack of medical resources and superstition about the causes of epilepsy often lead to inadequate treatment and social exclusion for people living with the neurological condition. Novartis is working with a Catholic mission on the ground in a central part of the country to overcome these barriers and improve care.

Photos: Bjoern Myhre, Novartis

Sharing Key Insights and Lessons to Accelerate Progress.

Alexandra Cossio Duque, a clinical and community research coordinator from Colombia, has travelled the world to study how to overcome social and geographic barriers to healthcare access. Today, she is working in her home country to strengthen the capacity of health systems to treat leishmaniasis, a neglected tropical disease that is endemic to rural areas of Colombia.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the US, claiming one in four lives. Social factors such as living conditions, education and diet play a key role in determining a person’s heart health, which means cardiovascular disease typically hits vulnerable communities the hardest. Our three-year Closing the Gap initiative with the Jefferson Collaborative for Health Equity (established by Jefferson Health and Thomas Jefferson University) focuses on addressing the upstream social determinants of heart health in five vulnerable neighborhoods in Philadelphia with high rates of stroke and adverse outcomes related to heart disease.

What happens when a patient’s only treatment hope rests with a promising but not yet locally approved therapy? At Novartis, we are providing a lifeline of access to innovative medicines under review or not yet approved locally when no other treatment options are available.

Thierry Diagana and Jonathan Spector from the Novartis Institute for Tropical Diseases (NITD) discuss learnings about their work in Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) and share insights into the factors, which could lead to a resurgence of these diseases.

Sickle cell disease disproportionately affects babies in Africa, but many go undiagnosed due to lack of screening. Newborn screening is needed to save lives and improve care.

Raising awareness of the ways in which prostate cancer can affect the sexual minority and gender minority communities.

Low- and middle-income countries will account for some three in four of the world’s cancer deaths within the next decade without better access to care. It’s a gap Amy Israel and her team at Novartis are trying to bridge.

Thierry Diagana and his team are on a quest to discover new therapeutics for malaria. He believes malaria elimination is within our grasp, but emerging drug resistance could jeopardize the hard-fought progress.