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Tag: Astrazeneca

  • Over 67 million screenings – AstraZeneca’s ‘Healthy Heart Africa’ celebrates 10 years of transforming Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) care

    Over 67 million screenings – AstraZeneca’s ‘Healthy Heart Africa’ celebrates 10 years of transforming Noncommunicable Disease (NCD) care

    …HHA aims to improve access to timely diagnosis and treatment, reducing the burden of this disease across communities

    AstraZeneca’s flagship health equity programme – Healthy Heart Africa (HHA), marks its 10th anniversary, celebrating successfully taking over 67 million blood pressure screenings and a decade of action against non-communicable diseases across Africa.

    Hypertension is a leading risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and accounts for a significant portion of noncommunicable disease (NCD) deaths globally. In Africa, over 27% of adults live with hypertension[1], far above the global average.

    Since its launch, HHA has conducted over 67 million blood pressure screenings, trained over 11,700 healthcare workers, and activated over 1,550 healthcare facilities across nine African countries in Kenya, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Rwanda, Nigeria and Tanzania including the Island of Zanzibar. These efforts have significantly improved access to hypertension diagnosis and treatment, saving countless lives.

    Ruud Dobber, Executive Vice President and President, BioPharmaceuticals Business Unit, AstraZeneca, said: “Healthy Heart Africa epitomises AstraZeneca’s commitment to equitable healthcare. In a decade, we’ve empowered millions to manage their heart health. Now, we’ve expanded to tackle chronic kidney disease, ensuring greater resilience in health systems across the continent.”

    The programme has started addressing chronic kidney disease (CKD), which is closely linked to hypertension and affects 15.8% of Africans.[2] Early detection and management are critical, as CKD often progress silently. HHA aims to improve access to timely diagnosis and treatment, reducing the burden of this disease across communities.

    This commemoration sets the stage for the upcoming World Health Organization’s High-Level Meeting on NCDs[3], reinforcing the urgency of collective action. One facet of the programme’s success is built on strong partnerships with governments, NGOs, and community leaders to deliver culturally tailored interventions.

    Helen McGuire, Global Program Leader, PATH, added: “Working on the Healthy Heart Africa (HHA) programme with AstraZeneca has been truly transformative. Seeing the scale-up and institutionalisation of integrated and expanded NCD services, particularly in countries like Ghana, has been immensely rewarding. The introduction of NCD indicators into national health information systems represents a major milestone, enabling better planning, resource allocation, and outcome monitoring.”

    Ministries of Health across Africa have championed HHA’s integration of hypertension care into national policies, ensuring sustainability and local ownership.

    Permanent Secretary Uganda Ministry of Health, Dr Diana Atwine Kanzira, said: “In Uganda, our partnership with Healthy Heart Africa has been instrumental in strengthening our response to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), now a major health challenge across Africa. Through this collaboration, we have raised awareness on risk factors, enhanced early detection, linked patients to care, and built the capacity of healthcare workers. By integrating hypertension data into our national health system and advancing digitalization, we are ensuring a seamless patient pathway, enabling progress tracking, and delivering life-saving care to our people.”

    With its proven model – the Healthy Heart Africa programme aims to expand to new regions, integrating climate-resilient healthcare solutions and prioritising early detection to prevent disease progression. Through such innovative partnerships, the programme aims to deliver care to those most in need.

  • Expansion of AstraZeneca’s flagship health equity programme Healthy Heart Africa

    Expansion of AstraZeneca’s flagship health equity programme Healthy Heart Africa

    …The programme aims to improve health outcomes, with a focus on increasing awareness of the symptoms and risks of hypertension

    Broader range of non-communicable diseases targeted including chronic kidney disease; Programme growing across Africa, 54 million blood pressure screenings to date.

    AstraZeneca has set out a new ambition for Healthy Heart Africa, its flagship health equity initiative, to target a broader range of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including chronic kidney disease (CKD) as well as hypertension and cardiovascular disease. The expanded programme will also launch in Egypt, reaching even more patients across the continent.

    At the 77th World Health Assembly (WHA) during an event co-hosted with the Ministry of Health for Uganda, AstraZeneca announced that the expanded Healthy Heart Africa programme will be operational in Côte d’Ivoire, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda by the end of 2025.

    Launched in 2014, Healthy Heart Africa was established to address the increasing burden of cardiovascular diseases in Africa. The programme aims to improve health outcomes, with a focus on increasing awareness of the symptoms and risks of hypertension; providing health education and access to early screening and treatment; and delivering training to healthcare providers. This supports health system resilience by relieving the social and economic burden arising from late-stage treatment and care of cardiovascular and related diseases.

    Over the past decade, the programme has conducted more than 54 million blood pressure screenings and trained more than 11,400 healthcare workers. By March 2024, the programme achieved its initial ambition to reach 10 million people with elevated blood pressure, nearly two years ahead of target.

    HE Dr Jean Ruth Aceng Ocero, Minister of Health for The Republic of Uganda, said:  “As we confront the burden of non-communicable diseases in Uganda, which account for 36% of deaths and 81,300 annual mortalities it is imperative to strengthen our health systems. With a 21% probability of premature mortality from NCDs, resilient health systems are crucial for early detection and effective management.”

    HE Dr Jean Kaseya, Director-General of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, said: “The rising burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in Africa, which have increased from 24% in 2000 to 37% in 2019 of all deaths, highlights the urgent need for comprehensive and coordinated action. Supporting Member States to integrate NCD prevention and control into primary healthcare and strengthen multisectoral coordination on NCDs are among the priority interventions for the African CDC.”

    Ruud Dobber, Executive Vice President, BioPharmaceuticals Business Unit, AstraZeneca, said: “The public and private sectors must work hand in hand to address the escalating burden of NCDs and ensure more equitable and sustainable health outcomes for patients across Africa and beyond. Heart and kidney health are often interconnected, and with earlier diagnosis, intervention and treatment of cardiorenal diseases, we have a tremendous opportunity to prevent life-threatening complications, and reduce the economic and environmental impact of disease across the continent.”

    HE Dr Khaled Abdel Ghaffar, Minister of Health and Population for Egypt, said: “With the links between climate change and noncommunicable diseases like heart and kidney disease, it is becoming increasingly clear that we must act urgently to adapt our health systems to deal with this reality. Egypt is proud to be joining the Healthy Heart Africa program as part of our steadfast commitment to improving the health and well-being of all Egyptians. Through the signed Letter of Intent, we will be able to improve CKD public awareness, enhance early screening and diagnosis, support training for our HCPs, digitalize CKD healthcare management and update our local management protocols in line with the latest global standards.”

    At the event, global leaders in NCD care, including Ministers of Health for Uganda, Ethiopia and Egypt, as well as high-level representatives from the Africa CDC, the World Health Organization, PATH, Amref and patient advocacy groups, committed to tackle the growing burden of NCDs in Africa, emphasising the importance of early detection, evidence-based treatments, and the effective implementation of public-private partnerships such as Healthy Heart Africa.

    AstraZeneca reinforced its focus on taking a public-private partnership approach to deliver Healthy Heart Africa’s goals by signing Memorandums of Understanding with the Ministries of Health from Egypt, Uganda, and Ghana. The programme supports Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3 & 4 to reduce by one-third premature mortality from NCDs through prevention and treatment by 2030.

  • Book Review: Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development

    Book Review: Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development

    TITLE: Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development

    AUTHORS: Wole Adamolekun, Ph.D. and Rotimi Olatunji, Ph.D.

    DATE OF PUBLICATION: 2022

    NO OF PAGES: 309

    PUBLISHER: Malthouse Press Limited

    PLACE OF PUBLICATION: Lagos

    REVIEWER: Raphael Olugbenga Abimbola, Ph.D.

    PREAMBLE

    The culture of making corporate bodies like national and transnational organisations to be socially responsible to their immediate environment and various publics has gained prominence since the late 20th Century. This is otherwise known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, the term so called has limited social responsibility to only big national and multinational organisations to the exclusion of individuals, groups, small and medium scale organisations who also need to be socially responsible to their publics. This is arguably the reason the authors of Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development, Wole Adamolekun and Rotimi Olatunji decided to approach the discipline from a broader perspective of including all and sundry in the business of social responsibility in a cooperative manner for sustainable development of the society in which they operate. This is corroborated by Yomi Badejo-Okunsanya, a public relations, advertising and marketing wizard and President, African Public Relations Association (APRA), in his foreword to the book that “running businesses that recognize that the social license that enables them to operate is sacrosanct and comes with responsibility that protects the environment, the people while operating profitably as the bedrock of a better society.”

    THE BOOK

    True to its purpose, Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development brings to the fore the need to put the term in proper perspective with theoretical underpinnings and practical case studies. The ten-chapter book approaches the subject-matter from the Nigerian, African and global contexts. It particularly underscores the African culture of ubuntu stressing the need to be our brother’s keeper as a society thrives on cooperative efforts.

    The book opens with an exposé on social responsibility as African context on the one hand and a western context on the other addressing the human rights, labour, and environment angles to the discourse pointing out that social responsibility practices in Africa are informal and largely undocumented, hence, less attention of research light beamed on them to evaluate their impact and contributions to the society. It then includes social responsibility, stewardship, fiduciary, corporate social performance, stakeholder, corporate citizenship, relationship, and multi-level theories as yardsticks for articulating impactful social responsibility programmes and projects.

    Other aspects covered by the book include instances of social responsibility practices in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large. The authors, however, did not fail to interrogate the motives of organisations in carrying out CSR activities especially in Nigeria and many African countries where the drive for publicity, visibility, acceptance, and eventual profit outweighs the altruistic motives of impacting their environment for sustainable development. In contrast, the book presents global examples of CSR projects as salutary and enduring legacies. The book draws the curtain on social responsibility in the Covid-19 era with examples of how multinational pharmaceutical and health organisations like Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson, AstraZeneca, Modena and others gave humanity hope through CSR.

    EVALUATION

    The authors: Wole Adamolekun and Rotimi Olatiunji, brought their expertise and experience as private and public administrators, entrepreneurs, managers, teachers and researchers in public relations and advertising to bear on the content of the book. This has made a balance of theory and practice spiced with case studies.  A major contribution of the authors to the subject-matter is the need for organisations, groups, and individuals to situate their CSR activities against the backdrop of relevant theories to ensure success and avoid failures. A chronological arrangement of topics either contextually or geographically could have made an easier reading for different categories of the target audience. Nevertheless, the authors have been deliberate in their mode of presentation which captures key aspects of social responsibility at both the micro and macro levels.

    RECOMMENDATION

    Social Responsibility and Sustainable Development is suitable for a wide range of audiences. It is a masterpiece for researchers and academics as well as students who want to understand fresh and broader perspectives on the subject-matter. It is a must read for public relations, advertising, marketing and communication professionals, managers, and owners of small and medium scale firms as well as conglomerates who want to build and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders for sustainable development of our society.

    Rapheal Olugbenga ABIMBOLA, Ph.D.

    Ag. Head, Department of Mass Communication

    Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State, Nigeria

    gbegbib@gmail.com, +234-803 3814 255

  • Futurize and AstraZeneca unveil FuturizeU: the first-of-its-kind healthcare incubator across Africa

    Futurize and AstraZeneca unveil FuturizeU: the first-of-its-kind healthcare incubator across Africa

    …FuturizeU, the first-ever incubator across SSA, empowers university-led startups from idea to launch

    Earlier today, Futurize and AstraZeneca (www.AstraZeneca.com) officially announced the launch of Futurize’s new pioneering HealthTech incubator program, FuturizeU. In collaboration with AstraZeneca, through the A.Catalyst Network, and co-funded by Bristol Myers Squibb, the program will run from September 12 to November 17, 2023.

    FuturizeU is dedicated to nurturing early-stage university startups in Africa’s healthcare sector. Its core mission is to equip the upcoming generation of healthcare entrepreneurs with the essential tools to navigate startup complexities. The program aims to cultivate groundbreaking solutions that address critical healthcare equity and early non-communicable disease (NCD) diagnosis challenges across the African continent, harnessing the region’s abundant untapped potential.

    Leveraging cutting-edge technology like Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), FuturizeU accelerates meaningful healthcare advancements while nurturing a fertile ground for innovation. The program welcomes teams from partner universities across Sub-Saharan Africa, focusing on university students, alumni, and groups from the previous two Fuel Africa cohorts, all with transformative healthcare startup concepts.

    At its core, FuturizeU is a nexus of knowledge sharing, mentorship, and collaboration. Over eight weeks, the program’s curriculum delves into critical startup principles, covering product-market fit, financial strategies, and practical go-to-market approaches. Seasoned advisors and industry experts will guide aspiring entrepreneurs and provide them with networking opportunities, ensuring their ideas flourish.

    Rhea Singhla, CEO at Futurize, says: “Undoubtedly, incubator programs hold paramount importance for African youth as they are not as readily accessible. These initiatives act as dynamic launchpads, igniting the latent potential of our young entrepreneurs and providing them with the essential tools, mentorship, and resources required to translate their innovative ideas into impactful solutions.”

    A standout feature is the opportunity for participants to showcase their startups to a diverse network of industry partners, investors, and stakeholders at the FuturizeU Demo Day in Nairobi, Kenya, on November 17, 2023. This platform bridges funding and collaboration, fuelling growth and sustainable development while fostering the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

    Jonathan Calder, Head of Digital and IT for African Cluster at AstraZeneca, stated: “Our partnership with Futurize is integral to our unwavering commitment to improve health equity and create sustainable impact in Africa. Each day at AstraZeneca, we work hand in hand with diverse stakeholders across Africa to address some of the most pressing healthcare issues our communities face. I am thrilled that through the FuturizeU HealthTech Incubator program, we will now provide young innovators in Africa an excellent launchpad opportunity to join us in our ambition to deliver pioneering solutions to improve patient outcomes.”

    The program garnered an overwhelming response, attracting applications from aspiring healthcare entrepreneurs across the continent. Among them, the following ten startups with exceptional concepts have been selected:

    • Vectorgram (Kenya)
    • Pulsesetters (Kenya)
    • Tawi (Kenya)
    • Trakafya (Kenya)
    • MariTest (Uganda)
    • CanisaHealth (Ghana)
    • TensorScan (Nigeria)
    • SuperOriginals (Nigeria)
    • Health4Moni (Nigeria)
    • PharmaGoods (Tanzania)

    Moritz Gripp, COO at Futurize commented: “By investing in young entrepreneurs through programs like FuturizeU, we are not only fostering innovation but also nurturing a generation of capable leaders who will drive positive change and contribute to the growth of Africa’s healthcare sector and beyond.”

    Going forward, AstraZeneca A.Catalyst and Futurize will continue to jointly explore further partnership opportunities to support healthcare entrepreneurs in Africa and strengthen healthcare systems in the region and beyond.

    Investors and potential partners are cordially invited to join the FuturizeU Demo Day on November 17, 2023. 

  • Feature: Meeting the climate challenge: Building sustainable, resilient and equitable health systems in Africa

    Feature: Meeting the climate challenge: Building sustainable, resilient and equitable health systems in Africa

    By Deepak Arora

    Climate change is no longer a theoretical challenge to be solved by future generations; it is a reality that communities across Africa are already experiencing in the form of higher temperatures, droughts, changing rainfall patterns. [1] Despite contributing the least to global warming and having the lowest greenhouse gas emissions, Africans face exponential collateral damage from climate change, posing systemic risks to its water and food systems, increasing the risk of disease and straining already fragile health systems.[2]

    As part of a series of regional meetings in the run up COP28 in the UAE later this year, this week changemakers from across the continent will come together at Africa Regional Climate Week to tackle this new reality and address the widening climate and health nexus. It is a critical opportunity to accelerate efforts to build sustainable health systems across Africa, the key ingredients for which are resilience, equity, and climate action. 

    A resilient health system is one that can continue to deliver high-quality care for its patients under pressure – which could be economic, social, or environmental. Achieving this requires us to proactively strive to keep people healthy, rather than waiting until they fall ill to intervene. This shift from “sick care” to health care means investing in health education, prevention, and screening so that diseases are avoided entirely or treated as early as possible.

    This approach is especially relevant for noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) such as cancer, diabetes and heart and lung disease – all of which are on the rise across Africa. [3] Despite being responsible for 1.6 million premature deaths in the Africa region in 2019 and putting increasing strain on health systems, NCDs receive relatively little attention. [4] [5] Many of the most prevalent conditions are driven by manageable risk factors such as unhealthy diet, smoking and physical inactivity, [6] and –  with the right strategies – can be prevented. On the other hand, if detected early, diseases that are not preventable can be much more straightforward to treat, and even cure. [7]

    Take Healthy Heart Africa (HHA), which since its inception has conducted over 38.5 million blood pressure screenings and trained over 10,600 healthcare workers to increase awareness of the symptoms and risks of hypertension and also offer low-cost treatment where applicable.[8] This initiative follows a model of prevention and screening that offers at-risk patients the opportunity to be treated as early as possible, often avoiding the need for more expensive hospital-based care.

    Of course, resilience can only be achieved when it is underpinned by equity to enable all people to benefit from the highest quality of care. Without equity, our efforts to build a greener, healthier Africa will fall short.[9] This requires stakeholders from across the public, private, and third sectors to work together to increase access to health education, tests, treatments, vaccines, and new technologies. Initiatives like AstraZeneca’s Cancer Care Africa programme – which aims to advance equitable cancer outcomes across the continent – are driving change and bridging the care gap.

    Finally, every part of the healthcare ecosystem has a role to play in tackling climate change head-on by driving down carbon emissions, thereby contributing to the achievement of the Paris Climate Agreement targets. Demonstrating its leadership in this, AstraZeneca has committed to a 98% reduction in our global carbon emissions by 2026, achieved in part through investments in renewable energy for offices and laboratories.

    At the same time, our global reforestation project, AZ Forest, is taking a sustainable, community-led agroforestry approach to plant over 200 million trees worldwide by 2030. This includes projects in Ghana and Rwanda, which are supporting tens of thousands of farmers who will benefit from land restoration.

    Our future depends on healthy people, healthy societies and a healthy planet, yet communities across Africa are already experiencing the negative impacts of changing weather patterns, a challenge only expected to grow in the coming years and decades.

    Now is the time to build sustainable health systems, underpinned by resilience, equity, and climate action, so that we are ready for future challenges but also doing everything we can in this moment to limit the effects of a changing climate. By taking action now, we can build a greener and healthier tomorrow for people, society and planet.

    Deepak Arora is the Interim Country President, Africa Cluster, AstraZeneca

  • Breathing hope: Tackling lung cancer in Africa and the Middle East

    Breathing hope: Tackling lung cancer in Africa and the Middle East

    World Lung Cancer Day is an important opportunity to raise awareness and collectively push for transformative action

    by Esra Erkomay

    Lung cancer, once rare, is now the highest cause of mortality of cancer worldwide. Responsible for more fatalities than breast, colon, and prostate cancers combined. [1]  It claims a life every 18 seconds. In recent years, wealthier countries have recently experienced a significant decline in lung cancer mortality, but in most of the Middle East and Africa, incidence and mortality remains high.

    It is challenging to gather precise figures on the number of people living with lung cancer in the region, but most recent studies show there were at least 120,000 new cases in 2018, with numbers predicted to have grown since then. [2] [3] Its strong association with tobacco-use leads many people to assume that lung cancer is a condition that only affects smokers. But this is a misperception. Though smoking increases your disease risk, anyone can get lung cancer.

    The years of life lost to premature deaths, the economic burden of lost productivity and treatment costs, and the long-term effects of illness and treatment on the quality of life of patients and survivors all combine to make lung cancer a serious public health challenge. Our approach to this devastating disease in the Middle East and Africa must change if we are to save lives and improve the overall resilience and sustainability of our health systems.

    World Lung Cancer Day is an important opportunity to raise awareness and collectively push for transformative action. Alongside prioritising lung cancer in National Cancer Control programmes and investing in cancer registries to collect sufficient data on the disease, there are three approaches that governments can take to achieve this.

    Firstly, screening for lung cancer must be expanded, focusing on high-risk groups. As noted in a 2021 report developed for the Lung Ambition Alliance, nearly a quarter of lung cancer deaths in high-risk populations could be prevented through screening. [4] It is encouraging to note that advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are making screening more accessible and efficient than ever before. To ensure that emerging economies also benefit from these new technologies, AstraZeneca has joined forces with deep-learning developers QURE.ai to integrate AI diagnostics in the early detection of lung cancer in Turkey, the Gulf, Egypt, Lebanon, Iraq and South Africa. With 30,000 scans already completed in these countries, the partnership aims to increase lung cancer detection at an earlier stage – improving the patient journey and ultimately reducing lung cancer mortality rates.

    Secondly, cross-border collaboration can help change how we detect and treat lung cancer. Learning from each other’s experiences and mistakes is better for patients and healthcare budgets. Initiatives like Cancer Care Africa, launched in November last year provide valuable insights and build cross-border health ecosystems that address the challenges associated with cancer, including lung cancer. Already, Cancer Care Africa is creating an educational bridge between health care professionals in Egypt and Kenya who work on lung and other cancers, with thousands of health workers benefitting from in-person and virtual peer-to-peer learning which it is hoped can eventually be replicated across the continent.

    Finally, sustainability must be at the heart of our health systems. Research indicates that nearly 1 in 10 cases of lung cancer are caused by outdoor air pollution, which means building environmentally friendly health-ecosystems can directly benefit lung cancer outcomes. [5]  Added to that, prevention and early detection programmes save significant resources and energy in the long run, as can new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and virtual appointments. This year’s COP28 in the UAE is a critical opportunity to strengthen ties between climate and health, and it is exciting to see health firmly on the agenda. By building sustainable health systems, we can ensure equitable access to lung cancer care for all, and vice versa.

    On this World Lung Cancer Day, we call on governments, healthcare providers, the private sector, and NGOs to renew their approach to lung cancer in the Middle East and Africa region. The burden of this disease is formidable, and our collective response must rise to meet it. By implementing effective screening programmes, fostering cross-border collaboration, and investing in sustainable health systems, we can reverse the trajectory of lung cancer and provide hope for patients. Let us unite in the fight against lung cancer and strive for a future where this devastating disease no longer claims the lives of so many.

    Esra Erkomay is the Oncology Lead, Middle East and Africa, AstraZeneca

    [1] https://apo-opa.info/3Qi99oj.
     [2] Jazieh, Abdulrahman R., et al. “Lung cancer in the Middle East and North Africa region.” Journal of Thoracic Oncology 14.11 (2019): 1884-1891. https://apo-opa.info/3q9SDMF.
     [3] Sharma, Rajesh, et al. “Mapping cancer in Africa: a comprehensive and comparable characterization of 34 cancer types using estimates from GLOBOCAN 2020.” Frontiers in Public Health 10 (2022): 744. https://apo-opa.info/47gWOqL
     [4] Lung Ambition Alliance, “Lung Cancer Screening: The Cost of Inaction”.  July 2021 https://apo-opa.info/47a9qzH
     [5] Cancer Research UK, “How air pollution can cause cancer”. https://apo-opa.info/43PjdZ1. Last accessed 17 July 2023.

  • AstraZeneca launches pioneering Africa Health Innovation Hub to increase access to healthcare across the continent

    AstraZeneca launches pioneering Africa Health Innovation Hub to increase access to healthcare across the continent

    Pioneering A. Catalyst Innovation Hub will embrace new technology including AI; Projects include key partnerships with Tricog Health in Kenya and Medsol AI in South Africa; New hub will focus on education, early diagnosis, technology, and data generation. 

    AstraZeneca, a leading global pharmaceutical company, launched the Africa Health Innovation Hub today. This ground-breaking initiative highlights the company’s commitment to healthcare equity and fostering partnerships with a range of stakeholders, including governments, healthcare societies, academia, healthcare providers and patient advocacy groups, to better improve patient outcomes. Building on AstraZeneca’s work in Africa, the hub aims to use the latest science and technology to improve access to healthcare for patients on the continent. 

    The Africa Health Innovation Hub is the latest in the global A. Catalyst Network, a connected array of over 20 hubs worldwide. This network seeks to tackle current healthcare challenges through collaborative innovation, promote affordable and equitable healthcare access, and amplify patient-centred innovation through strategic alliances within the healthcare ecosystem.  

    Last year, AstraZeneca has joined the WEF Edison Alliance, (https://apo-opa.info/3o4sPA1) a public-private partnership that aims to improve the lives of 1 billion people through digital inclusion by 2025. The partnership reinforces our commitment to harnessing digital innovation to drive inclusion and equity across the healthcare ecosystem, therefore, will also be a strong facilitator of the Africa Hub.

    Gagan Singh, Country President, African Cluster, AstraZeneca, stated, “AstraZeneca aims to strengthen and future-proof health systems across the whole patient journey, ensuring everyone has equitable and affordable access to the life-changing healthcare solutions they need, regardless of where they live. The launch of the Africa Health Innovation Hub is a significant step in our goal to unlock digital transformation and innovation in health across the continent, paving the way for patient-centric digital health solutions that leave no one behind. By working with partners across the continent, we are nurturing local talent and making quality health care more accessible for all.” 

    Partnering to bring our purpose to life

    In Africa, two major new partnerships will form the backbone of the Hub in its initial phases:  

    • In South Africa, AstraZeneca is partnering with MEDSOL AI SOLUTIONS to help promote the use of AI in the detection of disease through a state-of-the-art Wi-Fi ultrasound probe that can detect breast cancer in seconds. The Melusi Breast AI rapid detection app will be rolled out in rural clinics to help in early detection of the disease, supported by a dedicated referral system so that women with positive detection of breast cancer can be offered a quicker turnaround time for therapeutic intervention. 

    Dr Kathryn Malherbe (PhD), CEO & Founder, MedSol AI Solutions said, “Medsol AI is excited to be leading one of the inaugural projects of the Africa Innovation Hub, with support from AstraZeneca. Breast cancer is a devastating disease, with many women in our communities only able to access late-stage diagnoses. The Melusi Breast AI project will enable us to leverage technology and innovation to improve early diagnostic detection rates and patient outcomes in local clinics, ultimately saving lives.” 

    • In Kenya, the company is expanding an already successful collaboration with Tricog (www.Tricog.com) Health Limited. After a few years of piloting an AI technology that connects ACS patients to health professionals and route them to the appropriate facilities, enabling early cardio-renal complications to be addressed in India, the African hub aims to enhance early diagnosis and treatment of Heart Failure using Tricog’s InstaECG AI tools for rapid diagnosis, reducing mortality rates and improving quality of life. 

    Dr. Charit Bhograj, CEO & Founder, Tricog Health Limited added, “non-communicable diseases, including heart disease, are on the rise in Kenya and across Africa, and we know that the earlier these conditions are diagnosed, the better chance it is for patients to continue to live long healthy lives. By investing in digital health technology, the Africa Health Innovation Hub is enabling the use of advanced AI to screen and diagnose patients remotely, bringing high-quality health tools to people no matter where they live.”

    Another partnership initiated last year and will officially form part of the Africa Health Innovation Hub is the Fuel Africa programme, launched by Futurize (www.Futurize.studio). This is the largest healthcare entrepreneurship programme on the continent, bringing together the brightest minds across universities in Sub-Saharan Africa to address some of Africa’s most pressing challenges in healthcare. For the second year in a row, AstraZeneca’s A. Catalyst Network partnered with Futurize to reinforce our strong commitment to fostering innovation in the continent by developing local talents.

    Official kick off to AstraZeneca’s health innovation hub in Africa

    The official launch event – which marked the launch of the hub and the kick off of the Medsol AI partnership – took place at the Daspoort Poli Clinic in Pretoria, South Africa, where healthcare practitioners were able to demonstrate the use of the Melusi Breast AI device in a community clinic setting, which is one of the first points of contact for clinical breast examinations and breast cancer screening for patients.

    The Africa Health Innovation Hub will also invest in building local talent, promote policy change for cancer screening, close the gaps in healthcare access and improve the quality of life for patients in the African region, particularly in rural and underserved communities. These objectives are aligned with the four pillars of AstraZeneca’s A. Catalyst Network: Education and Awareness, Early Diagnosis and Referral, Connectivity and Technology, and Data Generation.

  • Nigeria receives 699,760 doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca to combat Pandemic

    Nigeria receives 699,760 doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca to combat Pandemic

    Nigeria today received 699,760 doses of COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca donated by the United Kingdom (UK) through the COVAX initiative. This  brings  the  total  number  of COVID-19  Vaccine  AstraZeneca doses delivered  to Nigeria through COVAX or government agreements to over 4.6 million.

    COVAX is a global initiative co-led by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), Gavi (the Vaccines Alliance) and the World Health Organization, which works with governments and manufacturers to accelerate the development, production and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world.

    Dr Faisal Shuaib, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency, a parastatal or Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria “This vaccine will be administered as second dose for those who have received their first dose of the vaccine during the first phase of the vaccine roll-out. I therefore enjoin all those who have received Astrazeneca as first dose to visit the nearest vaccination site to receive the second dose to be assured of full protection. We assure Nigerians that the vaccines are safe, effective and can protect against Covid-19.”

    Dr. Shuaib empahisasied that “The WHO does not approve the mixing of different brands of Covid-19 vaccines, except for the guidance that has been provided recently that one can mix the Astrazeneca and Pfizer vaccine. In Nigeria, we have not started that process because we do not have the Pfizer vaccines yet. Right now the guidance is that if you take Moderna as your first dose, you should take it as your second dose, and if you take Astrazeneca as your first dose, you should also take it as your second dose.”

    “I therefore want to urge all persons from 18 years above, who are due for the second dose of the Astrazeneca to visit the vaccination sites, and encourage friends, families, and neighbours to do the same to ensure full protection from the virus.”

    Barbara Nel, Country President for the African Region, AstraZeneca, said: “I was delighted to see the arrival of a further 699,760 doses of the COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca at Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, today. This donation from the UK will bolster Nigeria’s vaccination programme and is wonderful news for its people.”

    “Today’s arrival demonstrates the value of governments, industry and others working together to address our continent’s urgent needs to access vaccines.  In this regard, AstraZeneca’s commitment to Africa remains steadfast.”

    AstraZeneca is committed to supplying the vaccine broadly and equitably around the world at no profit during the pandemic period. The supply of the vaccine is estimated to have helped save tens of thousands of lives and to have significantly reduced hospitalisations.

    AstraZeneca  and  its  partners  have   released  for  supply one  billion  doses  of its  COVID-19 vaccine to  more  than 170 countries, including  more  than  100  million  doses  which  have  been delivered to 129 countries through COVAX.

    The COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca, (ChAdOx1-S [Recombinant]), formerly AZD1222, was co-invented by the University of Oxford and its spin-out company, Vaccitech. It uses a replication-deficient chimpanzee viral vector based on a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus) that causes infections in chimpanzees and contains the genetic material of the SARS-CoV-2 virus spike protein. After vaccination, the surface spike protein is produced, priming the immune system to attack the SARS-CoV-2 virus if it later infects the body.

  • “Don’t play politics with Nigerian’s lives- BUA

    “Don’t play politics with Nigerian’s lives- BUA

    BUA receives with utter shock, reports allegedly attributed to CACOVID, disowning its earlier payment through CACOVID for 1 million AstraZeneca doses for Nigeria via the AFREXIM vaccine platform.

    At the cacovid steering committee meeting held today February 8, 2021 (of which BUA is a member), members were informed by the CBN Governor that CACOVID had been given the opportunity through the Afrexim Platform to access and pay for 1million doses, provided payment was made today or tomorrow – failure which the opportunity to get those doses next week may be lost.

    After extensive deliberations, there was no agreement reached and despite members being offered the opportunity to donate funds towards procuring the doses, none offered. BUA then took it upon itself to offer to pay for the 1million doses at the agreed rate of US$3.45 per dose totaling US$3.45million which translates to 1.311billion Naira.

    The Chairman of BUA also requested through the CBN governor that the Naira equivalent be paid to the relevant account with CBN, and that CBN forward the dollar payment to Afrexim on CACOVID’s behalf.

    This payment was made immediately after the meeting and BUA transferred the money to the CBN (see payment confirmation attached) in order to meet the deadline. However, with this development by the CACOVID operations committee, we now have just cause to believe that some members of CACOVID were not happy that BUA took this initiative in the interest of Nigeria and to ensure that the deadline was met to receive the 1 million doses of the vaccine next week.

    BUA did this gesture in good faith as it has done with its interventions throughout the pandemic.

    We will however like to state clearly that we are aware that a prominent member of CACOVID is not happy that BUA took the initiative to pay for the vaccines – fulfilling our pledge just as we said during the meeting. Now they want to scuttle it by this action because they were unable to take the initiative.

    We find this release by CACOVID to be very petty and unbecoming of seemingly serious corporate citizens because it is tantamount to playing politics with the lives of Nigerians. This is no time for politics. It is time for us to come together to help Nigerians and it does not matter who is helping or paying.

    We stand ready to keep supporting and despite this petty action, we have decided to let the money remain in the CACOVID Account with the CBN pending when they are ready to utilize the funds for Nigerians to access the vaccines.

    Signed: BUA GROUP

  • BUA Purchases 1million Doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccines for Nigeria To Be Delivered Next Week

    BUA Purchases 1million Doses of AstraZeneca Covid-19 Vaccines for Nigeria To Be Delivered Next Week

    …commits to purchase 5million vaccines through BUA/CACOVID/AFREXIM Partnership to be distributed to Nigerians at no cost.

    BUA, one of Africa’s largest conglomerates, has paid for 1 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines for Nigeria through the AFREXIM Vaccine programme in partnership with CACOVID. These doses of the vaccine which should be delivered by next week, will be the first delivery of Vaccines to Nigeria since the COVID-19 vaccines became available. According to BUA, the vaccines will be distributed free to Nigerians at no cost.

    Speaking on this development, Philanthropist and Founder of BUA, Abdul Samad Rabiu thanked the President of the Afrexim Bank, Dr. Benedict Oramah for making the purchase possible and the Nigerian Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, for coordinating the process through the CACOVID Private Sector partnership. According to him, “BUA decided to secure these 1million vaccines by paying the full amount for the vaccines today because these vaccines became available only last week through AFREXIM. We expect the vaccines to be delivered within the next 14 days and hope priority will be given to our frontline workers who have committed their lives to managing the pandemic.”

    This development effectively pushes Africa’s most populous nation to the front of the queue in vaccine procurement.