Advancing access to essential medicines

What Teva Is Doing to Help Save the Lives of Thousands of Children with Cancer and Blood Disorders in Africa

For International Childhood Cancer Day, we announced Teva’s new donation partnership with Direct Relief and Global HOPE, which will facilitate access to essential medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. Teva will provide medicines to Global HOPE to help treat pediatric cancer and blood disorders in children; Direct Relief will ensure shipping and delivery of the medicines.

Cancer is the highest non-communicable disease-related cause of death among children globally. ¹ “In the US, more than 80 percent of children with cancer are cured, while 90 percent of those in sub-Saharan Africa die.” ² It is evident that the improvement in outcomes in children with cancer seen in high-income countries over the past several decades has not translated to most low- and middle-income countries. 

On International Childhood Cancer Day, we announced our donation partnership with Global HOPE (Hematology-Oncology Pediatric Excellence), a program of Texas Children’s Hospital, and Direct Relief, a leading humanitarian aid organization that is active in more than 80 countries around the world. The partnership will help facilitate access to essential medicines in sub-Saharan Africa, where an overwhelming majority of children diagnosed with cancer do not survive. 

“We spotted an opportunity to not only utilize our diverse product portfolio for the benefit of children in need, but also an opportunity to learn from partners who have been on the continent for years and who could identify what role we could play in supporting and strengthening health systems, particularly in cancer care,” said Amalia Adler-Waxman, Vice President of Social Impact and Responsibility at Teva. 

As the manufacturer of 84 percent of the oncology medicines on the WHO Essential Medicines List,³ Teva has one of the most diverse portfolios when it comes to treating cancer. We are committed to applying our expertise and resources to advance access to essential medicine for children around the world. 

Supporting this critical supply chain allows us to help facilitate access to medicines that treat cancer in children while also laying the groundwork to potentially treat illnesses beyond cancer and other hematologic disorders in children. Teva will initially support the Global HOPE program in Malawi, with the potential to extend access of donated medicines to Global HOPE sites across sub-Saharan Africa. Teva’s donation of medicines through this partnership will support the treatment plans for almost 95% of all chemotherapy patients. Over the next five years,⁴ Global HOPE anticipates diagnosing and treating close to 4,000 new pediatric cancer patients in Malawi. 

Oncology is a therapeutic area that demonstrates Teva’s commitment and capabilities across our focus areas in generics, specialty and biosimilars. Our partnership with Global HOPE and Direct Relief will allow us to maximize our impact for children with cancer in Africa. 

Global HOPE reached out to us a year ago to join its global public health initiative because of the breadth of our portfolio and our commitment to enabling access to critical medicines. Once it was clear that we would partner with Global HOPE, we invited our longstanding partner Direct Relief into the conversation. In 2019, we worked with Direct Relief and Access to Childhood Cancer Essentials (ACCESS) to promptly address an emergency shortage of medicines to treat children in Ethiopia.⁵

Said Amalia Adler-Waxman, “Teva has been working with Direct Relief for over a decade, and it continues to be an outstanding partner in delivering Teva’s donated medicines safely, securely and quickly to patients in need all around the world. We understood that their expertise both in pharmacy and logistics would be an asset for this partnership.” 

“This is just the beginning. We envision that this pilot will lead to sustained engagement with health systems in Africa. Global HOPE is a one-of-a-kind program that is taking a holistic approach to treatment and care, with patients and families at the center of their approach. We are excited to be a part of their vision to address and evolve the care of children with cancer on the continent, and we look forward to leveraging our expertise, products and supply chain to improve the lives of African patients.” 

Teva’s partnership with Global HOPE and Direct Relief has the potential to impact thousands of children with cancer and blood disorders in Africa.⁶

Find out more

• Learn how we are contributing to healthy communities by increasing access to treatment for people around the world.

• Meet our expert, Ed Kinkler, who ensures that Teva’s medicine donations are stored and transported to their destinations safely. 

• We’re hiring! Click here to discover the latest vacancies at Teva Pharmaceuticals.

Footnotes

[1] https://ncdalliance.org/sites/default/files/resource_files/20110627_A_Focus_on_Children_&_NCDs_FINAL_2.pdf

[2] https://www.texaschildrens.org/departments/global-hematology-oncology-pediatric-excellence-hope-0/challenge

[3] https://www.tevapharm.com/news-and-media/feature-stories/moving-at-light-speed/

[4] Global HOPE, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and Direct Relief partnership overview document

[5] https://www.acco.org/blog/accessinitiativetomedicine/

[6] Teva’s Global HOPE press release