Where you're born continues to define your chances of living a healthy life. Low- and middle-income countries with high burdens of diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and HIV, continue to feel the effects of health inequality, which were further exposed due to the pandemic. Between 2020 and 2021, the number of malaria cases increased from 245 million to 247 million, while the number of people living with HIV is estimated to have grown by 1.5 million, according to the World Health Organization.
In June 2022, pharmaceutical company GSK announced an investment of £1 billion over ten years to accelerate research and development, or R&D, dedicated to infectious diseases that disproportionately impact lower-income countries. One year on from this, GSK Chief Global Health Officer Thomas Breuer joined Devex Editorial Director Richard Jones to discuss what needs to be done to rebuild momentum towards achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 on health and well-being. “This cannot be done in isolation or in a disjointed fashion,” Breuer emphasized. “We all have to work together in partnership.”
Watch the video for the full conversation about what GSK’s funding has enabled so far, what the most persistent health challenges are, and how to leverage the power of partnerships for the greatest impact on diseases.