Japanese company Takeda Pharmaceutical has announced the addition of five partners to its Global CSR programme for 2019, which contributes to the long-term health of people through disease prevention and capacity building in developing and emerging countries.

Approximately 20,000 employees worldwide cast their votes, selecting five new, large-scale programmes run, respectively, by City Cancer Challenge, Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), SeriousFun Children’s Network, UNICEF, and the UN Foundation. All five programmes are being launched by the aforementioned organizations in partnership with Takeda.

This year, Takeda has increased its commitment to 4.6 billion yen to accelerate change for tackling some of the biggest global challenges.

Partner Organizations and programme Outlines

1. SeriousFun Children’s Network: Transforming the Lives of Children with Serious Illness and Their Families

Outline: This programme aims to develop and expand new and innovative programming for the global Network of specialized medical camps and programmes that deliver life-changing experiences to children with serious illnesses and their families; carry out research and evaluation efforts to track the impact of camp on the lives of children and families and further improve programmes to meet their needs; and build medical capacity throughout the Network.

Areas: United States, Europe, Africa, Asia, and the Caribbean

Period: 5 years

Budget: 1 billion yen

2. DNDi: Global Access programme for the Most Neglected Patients

Outline: This programme aims to expand neglected patient’s access to quality diagnosis and treatment in disease-endemic countries, including in peripheral settings, and consequently prevent disease progression while saving lives. DNDi targets five Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs): sleeping sickness, Chagas disease, leishmaniasis, onchocerciasis and mycetoma that are characterized by significant morbidity and/or mortality and have been prioritized due to the current limited availability and accessibility of effective diagnostics and treatment.

Areas: 16 countries across Africa, Asia, and South America

Period: 5 years

Budget: 1 billion yen

3. City Cancer Challenge: City Health Financing Lab

Outline: City Cancer Challenge’s participatory, inclusive approach brings together private sector, civil society, and governments to advance quality cancer care and treatment, and strengthen health systems. By supporting 10 cities with the design, planning, and implementation of sustainable cancer solutions, City Cancer Challenge will impact 80 million people by 2023.

Areas: Global

Period: 5 years

Budget: 1 billion yen

4. UN Foundation: Immunization and Universal Health Coverage

Outline: Takeda and Shot@Life’s partnership aims to strengthen health systems in Sub-Saharan Africa through improved disease surveillance and data utilization enabling effective immunization planning and outbreak response. Stronger immunization programmes will reach more children, strengthening primary health care and bringing these countries closer to achieving universal health coverage.

Areas: Sub-Saharan Africa

Period: 5 years

Budget: 550 million yen

5. UNICEF: Investment in Innovation and Frontier Technology

Outline: This programme will invest in 25 health-focused and drone startups to develop, realize, and scale cutting-edge solutions for children, as well as scale artificial intelligence-based epidemiological modeling to predict and help prevent infectious disease outbreaks in 3 countries.

Areas: Global

Period: 5 years

Budget: 1 billion yen