Sanofi Global Health Unit: making a difference for our patients in low- and middle-income countries

ACCESS TO HEALTHCARE • April 30, 2024

Sanofi’s Global Health Unit (GHU) works to address today’s many growing healthcare challenges – with a focus on countries with the highest unmet medical needs – through a self-sustained not-for-profit social business model.

Sanofi’s GHU aims to provide access to a broad portfolio of medicines in 40 countries with the highest unmet medical needs. To that end the GHU created Impact, a unique not-for-profit brand with 30 standard-of-care medicines produced by Sanofi, some of which are considered essential by the World Health Organization (WHO). The Impact medicines cover a wide range of therapeutic areas including diabetes, cardiovascular disease, tuberculosis, malaria and cancer.

Sanofi's GHU aims to reach two million people with non-communicable disease (NCD) care in its 40 countries in scope by 2030. Since its creation in 2021, the GHU has made significant progress towards its objective, having already treated 506,130 NCD patients in 31 countries as of the end of March 2024.

To support the set up and development of sustainable healthcare systems, the GHU is also working closely with local communities, authorities and non-governmental organizations to develop disease awareness programs and establish partnerships to drive better care through:

  • strengthening supply chains;
  • conducting medical training;
  • providing services to patients.

Sanofi's GHU has engaged with Ministries of Health and other partners in several countries, including Rwanda, Uganda, Tanzania and Cambodia. As of March 2024, the GHU pilots 44 active partnerships in 21 countries. Selected examples of projects supported are described below:

NameTherapeutic AreaCountry(s)Activity pellar(s)Overview and progress in numbers
PharmAccess
Cardio, Diabetes
Zanzibar
Patient Care model
The project is an integrated patient-centered model of care aiming at improving diagnosis and disease management for patients with cardio-metabolic diseases through a care bundle consisting of access to patient group meetings, digital self-management support, remote care and medications.
CHAZ FBO Zambia
Cardio, Diabetes
Zambia
Scaling Patient Care services with faith-based organizations
The primary goal is to institutionalize NCD Prevention WHO Best Buys as a standard of care within the church health institutions participating in the project. It includes building the capacity of health workers and community educators in church health institutions in diabetes and hypertension prevention and management, raising awareness of common NCD risk factors, and providing diabetes and hypertension diagnostic and treatment services in the selected church health institutions.
WCEA
Cardio, Diabetes
Malawi, Tanzania, Sierre Leone, Zimbabwe, Uganda
Online HCP Training
Online NCD training of healthcare professionals across multiple countries.
CNSS
Cardio, Diabetes
Djibouti
Empowering HCPs and supply chain actors
The specific objectives of this partnership are focused on strengthening advocacy and knowledge about NCDs, increasing the capacity of healthcare professionals for better management of NCDs and of supply chain actors, while building a sustainable procurement mechanism for affordable access to treatment.
Touch Foundation
Cardio, Diabetes
Tanzania
Strengthen Supply Chain
The primary goal is to improve supply chain management for NCD medicines and patient tracking at each facility to ensure patients are adhering to treatment.
Action 4 Diabetes (A4D)
Diabetes (type 1)
Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar
Care for Type 1 Diabetes Patients
Action 4 Diabetes focuses on type 1 diabetes patients and includes healthcare professional training, patient services, support in monitoring blood glucose levels and access to insulins, to increase efficiency in the management of type 1 diabetes patients. A4D also holds diabetes camps for patients and their families to build awareness and understanding.
City Cancer Challenge
Oncology
Cambodia, Rwanda
Health System Strengthening
Working with City Cancer, the objectives are to create city-wide oncology stakeholder leadership groups and complete situational analysis and needs assessments of oncology services (including digital oncology services), forming the basis for a successful approach to empower and strengthen the health system.