The Government of Kenya, AstraZeneca and the United Nations call for intensification of efforts in the fight against Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs)

Today, on the four-year anniversary of the launch of the Healthy Heart Africa (HHA) programme, the Ministry of Health, AstraZeneca and the United Nations Partnerships for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) convened a high-level discussion on the need for public-private partnerships (PPPs) to integrate NCD prevention and control more effectively in primary health care in Kenya. NCDs are fast becoming Kenya’s biggest public health concern, accounting for over 50% of hospital inpatient admissions and 40% of hospital deaths.[i]

As part of the Government’s commitment to a 25% reduction in the prevalence of high blood pressure by 2025 as set out by the World Health Organization (WHO),[ii] the Government of Kenya has prioritised policies such as the NCD Strategy (2015-2020) and the Kenya Health Policy to address the rising burden of NCDs. The NCD Strategy highlights the importance of strengthening the capacity of health systems at primary, and secondary levels.[iii] In support of this, the Ministry of Health entered into a partnership with AstraZeneca to launch the HHA programme in 2014, since then HHA has:

• Conducted over 8.5 million blood pressure screenings[iv]
• Trained over 5,800 healthcare workers, including doctors, nurses, community health volunteers and pharmacists to provide education and awareness, screening and treatment services for hypertension⁴
• Activated 680 healthcare facilities to provide hypertension services⁴
• Identified over 1.5 million people living with high blood pressure⁴

In commending these achievements, Pascal Soriot, Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca, said: “Our Healthy Heart Africa programme shows us that by joining forces with the Ministry of Health and our other partners, we can get results that go beyond what any individual stakeholder can achieve. This is the value of public-private partnerships, particularly when dealing with a complex NCD challenge that requires prevention and control interventions at the community level. The outcomes of the HHA programme to date are a strong indicator that we are on track to achieving our target of reaching 10 million people with high blood pressure in Africa by 2025.[v]”

Sicily Kariuki, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Health, stated: “We realise that universal healthcare coverage requires collaboration between levels of government and engaging with the private sector. As a programme that tackles hypertension by driving hypertension awareness, and providing screening, training and affordable medicines, the Healthy Heart Africa programme is an example of public private partnership and collaboration envisioned in our strategy and policy frameworks. As a government, we shall continue to encourage similar primary healthcare interventions that bring the best of health services to every Kenyan across the country.  We will continue to explore opportunities to expand our partnership with AstraZeneca, including into other therapy areas.”

Recognising that healthcare service delivery is devolved to local levels, AstraZeneca has also entered into a number of separate MoUs with several Counties. These new partnerships provide a platform for shared commitment in supporting the Counties with components ranging from public health education, screening, upskilling healthcare workers and strengthening the supply chain to ensure consistent availability of high-quality treatments.

Ashling Mulvaney, Global Head of Sustainability Strategy & HHA, AstraZeneca said: “We work to ensure that our programmes are sustainable, which means looking at the long term and being a positive, constructive partner in the places where we are working. Improving access to healthcare is one of the ways we do this. By adapting our programmes to meet the needs of local communities, we focus on disease prevention, developing health systems and ensuring that the products we provide are affordable.[vi] The MoUs we have signed today will expand our framework of intervention and enable us to bring healthcare closer to those who need it the most.”

Dr. Mohammed Kuti, Council of Governors Health Committee Chairperson and Governor, Isiolo County, said: “Almost one quarter of all deaths from NCDs occur in Kenyans below the age of 40 years. Given that about 40% (20 million) of Kenyans are 18‒35 years old, the impact of NCDs on the Kenyan economy could be devastating and pose a serious setback to the attainment of social, health and economic targets - as highlighted by the Kenyan Government’s ‘Big 4’ agenda and our Vision 2030 - if no serious interventions are implemented. We welcome AstraZeneca’s commitment to supporting us to halt and reverse the rising trend of NCDs in Kenya.”

Partnerships for Sustainable Development Goals: Dunga Beach

AstraZeneca also announced the Company’s entry into the Partnerships for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) online platform.  Siddharth Chatterjee, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in Kenya, commented: "During the recently-concluded UN General Assembly, President Kenyatta and other global leaders called for a sense of urgency and strong collaboration in the fight against NCDs. The joint work done by the private sector, with companies such as AstraZeneca, and public authorities is giving us practical lessons that can be replicated and scaled up through facilitation of the SDG Partnership Platform in Kenya to strengthen the momentum towards achieving the SDG 3, whose ambition is to ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages."

In a new initiative in partnership with the Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership, AstraZeneca is launching a programme that will see the introduction of biogas technology to the Dunga Beach region in Kisumu county.  This will enable the local community to process waste into clean energy. The technology aims to improve respiratory health in the community by reducing exposure to smoke from cooking over wood-burning fires. It will also reduce the time taken by villagers, particularly women and children, to collect firewood for cooking, allowing them to spend time on education or income-generating activities. The project provides households with domestic bio-digesters that provide enough energy to meet the needs of a typical home for a day.

Katarina Ageborg, Executive Vice-President, Sustainability and Chief Compliance Officer, AstraZeneca and President, AstraZeneca AB said: “Over 14,000 people are reported to die in Kenya every year due to health conditions traceable to indoor pollution.[vii] Considering that chronic respiratory disease is a main therapy area for AstraZeneca, we felt compelled by that statistic to intervene, hence the Dunga Beach project. We are working with a Kenya-based firm, Biogas International Ltd, to supply 50 domestic digesters.[viii] We aim to create an environment where local people not only live in a clean environment, but where they are not vulnerable to respiratory diseases.”

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of AstraZeneca.