At Novartis, expanding access to medicines starts with meeting people where they are. Korab Zuka shares how our community health programs work with local partners to redesign care and reduce health gaps.
Early detection shouldn’t depend on where you were born, or where you live now. But too often, it does. The persistent health gaps we still see aren’t about lack of willingness. They reflect systems that haven’t always been designed with every community in mind. Barriers to healthcare aren’t an artificial construct. For many communities, they are real, everyday issues ranging from distance to the nearest clinic to mistrust in the health system and limited or negative past experiences. So, instead of imposing solutions not always fit for purpose, what if we started by asking communities themselves what gets in their way, and then act on it? That’s why at Novartis, we look closely at where needs are greatest and work with communities to understand the barriers they face. From there, we redesign programs alongside them and partner with organizations already rooted locally. Together, we help people access education, screenings, diagnosis, and ongoing care. Our new Inclusive Health Accelerators are built on this approach. Drawing on what we’ve learned from existing programs, we’re now scaling partnerships across several U.S. cities to support early detection and treatment of breast and prostate cancer. Find out where we’re launching and how we’re delivering measurable, scalable community health solutions in TIME Magazine: https://lnkd.in/eMFB7x2Q If you’re working on prevention, what’s one design change that would make your system work better for the communities you work with?