Reveals initial findings of the Viatris sponsored report at a
high-level panel discussion
GENEVA and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 27, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Viatris Inc.
(NASDAQ: VTRS) and The Defeat-NCD Partnership (DNCD) at The United
Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) today signed a
Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), focused on continuing
cooperation and jointly utilising and leveraging their existing
resources and facilities for programmes and initiatives aimed at
addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their impacts on
NCD patients as a result of COVID-19. This by focusing on enhancing
care policies for prevention and treatment, particularly in
assisting low- and middle-income countries to meet their UN
Sustainable Development goals (SDG 3.4), to reduce NCD mortality by
a third by 2030.
"Collaboration with reputed private sector healthcare companies
forms an integral part of the solution to address the challenges
faced by NCD patients, especially in low resource settings. We
welcome Viatris joining the Partnership's efforts and supporting
our mission globally," said Mukul
Bhola, Chief Executive Officer of The Defeat-NCD Partnership
at UNITAR.
This collaboration was announced as part of high-level panel
discussion organised by The Defeat-NCD Partnership on
"Uninterrupted Health Services for NCDs during the COVID-19 Crisis"
on the margins of the 74th World Health Assembly,
calling on governments to take action on ensuring uninterrupted NCD
care during challenging times where political commitment is even
more needed.
The latest research report, which was led by The Economist
Intelligence Unit (EIU) and co-authored by DNCD on the implications
of NCD care policies on COVID-19 disease management, collating
global data, shows positive correlation between NCD mortality rates
and COVID-19 case fatalities. This was a study that Viatris was
proud to support, while at the same time giving authors the
autonomy they required.
Menassie Taddese, President of Emerging Markets at Viatris, who
joined the event shared some light on the research and what it
means for Viatris, "With 85 percent of NCD deaths taking place in
the 125 countries within our Emerging Markets region, our
scientists, medical professionals and regulatory experts are hard
at work reaching vulnerable communities so that they have access to
vital healthcare. Viatris is among the leading healthcare companies
to which citizens look to for treatment of NCDs and we will
continue to invest and to push policy towards NCD and COVID
care."
Other insights from the report include:
- In spite of the global trend of diverting resources away from
NCD care to COVID-19 mitigation, NCD mortality is the driver of
COVID-19 case fatalities. NCDs were estimated to have contributed
to 60 to 90 percent of COVID-19 deaths
- COVID-19 has exacerbated the progression of pre-existing NCDs
in survivors, and has even caused new, complex NCD cases in
previously healthy COVID-19 patients around the world
- Analysis of the increased burden on the already overstretched
health systems in low- and middle-income countries, it was found
that for every additional NCD death, there is an increase of 10.4
percent in COVID-19 deaths per 1,000 people
- Shortages of medicine, diagnostics and technologies are among
the most common reasons for delayed, reduced or cancelled NCD
treatments during this pandemic.
Menassie further commented: "The Memorandum of Understanding
agreement with UNITAR for The Defeat-NCD Partnership, is an
agreement that ensures our commitment to achieving the United
Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing NCD mortality by a
third by 2030, enabling all low-resource countries to scale up
their action against NCDs."
About Viatris
Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ: VTRS) is a new
kind of healthcare company, empowering people worldwide to live
healthier at every stage of life. We provide access to medicines,
advance sustainable operations, develop innovative solutions and
leverage our collective expertise to connect more people to more
products and services through our one-of-a-kind Global Healthcare
Gateway®. Formed in November
2020, Viatris brings together scientific, manufacturing and
distribution expertise with proven regulatory, medical and
commercial capabilities to deliver high-quality medicines to
patients in more than 165 countries and territories. Viatris'
portfolio comprises more than 1,400 approved molecules across a
wide range of therapeutic areas, spanning both non-communicable and
infectious diseases, including globally recognized brands, complex
generic and branded medicines, a growing portfolio of biosimilars
and a variety of over-the-counter consumer products. With a global
workforce of approximately 45,000, Viatris is headquartered in the
U.S., with global centers in Pittsburgh, Shanghai and Hyderabad, India. Learn more
at viatris.com and investor.viatris.com, and connect with us
on Twitter at @ViatrisInc, LinkedIn and YouTube.
About The Defeat-NCD Partnership:
The Defeat-NCD
Partnership is a practical response to the widespread call for
action on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Formally launched
alongside the UN General Assembly in 2018, we are a
'public-private-people' partnership anchored in the United Nations
but extending well beyond to include governments, multilateral
agencies, civil society, academia, philanthropies, and the private
sector.
Our vision is clear — universal health coverage for NCDs. To
achieve this, our core mission focuses on assisting approximately
90 low-resource countries via comprehensive action across four
interconnected service pillars: national NCD capacity building,
community scale-up of NCD services, affordability and accessibility
of essential NCD supplies, and sustainable NCD financing. Learn
more at Defeat-NCD.org, and connect with us on Twitter at
@DefeatNCD, LinkedIn and Facebook.
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