Astellas Global Health Foundation News

One year ago, Shintaro Omuro left the Astellas Development Division to become Head of Social Contribution for the Sustainability Division. Now, as he is about to take over as Head of Sustainability’s Center of Excellence, Shintaro talks about his experience in improving community health from the perspective of Astellas as a leading global pharmaceutical company, and as Vice President of the Astellas Global Health Foundation.

When Shintaro Omuro joined the Sustainability team after 20 years of work for Astellas’ Development Division to improve the company’s community engagement strategy, he faced a difficult situation: Astellas had never really engaged with society as part of its sustainability activities. “Without knowing left or right, but with the wish in my heart to create a better society, my team and I started two pilot programs, one for community engagement, and the other for health education.” Both programs were first of a kind for Astellas. “In the early days, things often went wrong. They just didn’t work,” Shintaro remembers.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. – January 25, 2024 – Today, the Astellas Global Health Foundation (“Foundation”) announced it has awarded three new grants for a combined $2.6 million to non-profit organizations working to make a sustained impact on improving access to health in Kenya, strengthening community resilience in Yemen, and providing disaster support in Peru.

The selected organizations -- International Medical Corps, PATH, and Plan International -- are expected to use the Foundation grants to impact nearly 750,000 lives combined over the next three years. This latest funding, in addition to active grants in progress with Amref Health Africa and AMPATH Kenya, reinforces the Foundation’s objective to help high-need populations within low- and middle-income countries where Astellas does not have a business presence.

It is exciting to share continued progress the MTRH Nawiri Recovery & Skills Centre in Eldoret, Kenya, is making to help improve access to mental health services as Kenya’s first recovery home and skills-building center for adults with severe mental health disorders.

The Nawiri Centre, which opened its doors in 2021, was built with one of the first grants awarded by the Astellas Global Health Foundation since the Foundation’s inception in 2018. The grant supports the groundbreaking mental health efforts of the Nawiri Centre led by the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) through the Indiana University Center for Global Health Equity and in partnership with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH).

It started with the warmth of beautiful smiles from the enthusiastic crowd assembled to greet us. It was a Monday earlier this spring, and I was filled with excitement at the opportunity to spend the week visiting the MTRH Nawiri Recovery & Skills Centre, Kenya’s first recovery home and skills-building center for adults with severe mental health disorders.

This would be an incredible day and a full-circle moment. The construction of the Nawiri Centre was among the first projects funded by the Astellas Global Health Foundation (AGHF) after its launch in 2018, as part of an initial grant to the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) through the Indiana University Center for Global Health Equity and in partnership with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH).

This World Refugee Day, we highlight our grant recipient USA for UNHCR the UN Refugee Agency, in its important work to build resilient communities that provide critical support for refugees in need.

Approximately 30 million internally displaced persons, refugees, and asylum-seekers reside in Africa, which is home to nearly one-third of the world�s refugee population.1 Uganda hosts the largest refugee population in Africa, with more than 1.5 million refugees, many of whom fled war and persecution in South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).²

I was extremely fortunate to recently visit the MTRH Nawiri Recovery & Skills Centre in Eldoret Kenya, the country's first recovery home and skills-building center for adults with severe mental health disorders.

This experience was both special and important, as the Nawiri Centre was built with one of the first grants awarded by the Astellas Global Health Foundation (AGHF). The grant is one of two grants the Foundation has made to the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) through the Indiana University Center for Global Health Equity and in partnership with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH). These grants are expanding mental health services in Kenya and meaningfully addressing the lack of proper diagnosis and treatment of mental illness in particularly vulnerable communities (estimated impact: more than 600,000 lives).

This International Women's Day, we reflect on the importance of achieving gender equality as a critical consideration for a sustainable future.¹

One of the most critical components in the fight against COVID-19 has been protecting and supporting the individuals who provide healthcare to patients and communities impacted by the pandemic. The need for continued progress is critical, particularly among health workers, 70 percent of whom are women, and as society currently has millions fewer trained workers than are needed to help when a disaster or other major shock to the health system strikes.²

Access to quality healthcare services in Africa remains highly challenging. African women and girls are the most vulnerable to ill health because of contributing factors that include gender inequity, poverty, and sexual and gender-based violence.² In fact, nearly 200,000 women in Africa die every year during pregnancy and childbirth from preventable causes,³ and an estimated 38 per 1,000 live births in Senegal result in a death prior to age five.⁴

In 2022, The Astellas Global Health Foundation ("Foundation") announced its support of Amref Health Africa with an almost $1.7 million grant over three years to tackle the critical need for improved healthcare access for children in Senegal, specifically in the Kolda and Sédhiou regions.

More than 1.7 billion people worldwide are affected by neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), a group of parasitic and bacterial infectious diseases that thrive in impoverished communities, including rural regions and conflict zones¹. These diseases - including intestinal worms, lymphatic filariasis, river blindness,schistosomiasis and trachoma - can cause devastating consequences, such as disfigurement, blindness, malnutrition and more than 170,000 deaths each year^2-4. The World Health Organization (WHO) and other government agencies have signaled the need for NTD prevention and control, including the urgent call to end NTDs by 2030 as part of the UN Sustainability Development Goals².

NORTHBROOK, Ill. - December 14, 2022 - Today, the Astellas Global Health Foundation ("Foundation") announced that it is providing five new grants for a combined $3.9 million to organizations focused on improving access to health, community resilience and disaster support for people in the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Senegal and Uganda.

The grants will allow the Foundation to continue its efforts to help improve health access, build resilient communities and provide disaster support for populations with a high-need for care within low- and middle-income countries where Astellas does not have a business presence.

In rural parts of low-income countries like Uganda, most sources of water are untreated and unsafe, while climate change and aquifer depletion are reducing available sources of clean water. As a result, families living in these areas are often plagued with diseases that are easily preventable through water treatment.

In 2021, the Astellas Global Health Foundation provided a $400,000 grant to Evidence Action to support its Dispensers for Safe Water program in rural Uganda. The grant has helped the organization provide chlorine dispensers that enable free and reliable access to safe water for more than 250,000 people. Their uniquely engineered dispensers are installed next to commonly used water sources, enabling people to treat their water using a safe and pre-measured dose of chlorine. The chlorine stays active for 2-3 days, which ensures the water does not get re-contaminated even when stored at home.

Building community resilience and providing disaster support are two of the core focus areas for the Astellas Global Health Foundation. By supporting initiatives that help strengthen healthcare infrastructure, improve systems and increase training and education initiatives in underserved global communities, the Foundation can help charitable organizations proactively tackle major health challenges in these vulnerable areas and help them prepare for and respond more effectively to future disasters.

In 2019, the Astellas Global Health Foundation awarded a $600,000 grant to help support Americares programs in rural El Salvador, particularly through the Americares Family Clinic in Santiago de Mar�a in rural eastern El Salvador, which is among the most impoverished communities in the region. A portion of that grant went to support the Americares Family Clinic Disaster Risk Reduction Program, which trains hospital staff and community members to better prepare for and respond to emergencies, including natural disasters. Fifteen communities served by the clinic prone to flooding, landslides, earthquakes and forest fires were invited to participate.

When Maria* gave birth to a beautiful 30-week-old baby girl, she was extremely nervous as she knew extra care would be needed to ensure her daughter would thrive after her early arrival. Fortunately, UNICEF was there to help. UNICEF's Mothers and Babies in Good Care Initiative, with support from the Astellas Global Health Foundation, enabled Maria's hospital to provide education on breastfeeding and the practice of "kangaroo care" - skin-to-skin contact between mothers and their babies, which helps premature babies stay warm, regulate their heartbeat and enhances bonding between parent and child - all critical for a healthy start.

As one of the first programs supported by the Astellas Global Health Foundation in 2019, the Mothers and Babies in Good Care Initiative works to address extensive supportive care needs for pregnant mothers and their newborns in the Dominican Republic and improve the country's maternal and newborn survival rate. Approximately 200 pregnant women and 4,000 newborns die during or immediately following childbirth each year, which is one of the highest rates in the Latin America and Caribbean region, despite access to national prenatal and birthing care.

In rural and remote areas of Nepal, significant barriers to access to health exist, including lack of health facilities and inconsistent quality of care, as well as worsening inequalities between caste/ethnic groups. With the addition of the COVID-19 global pandemic, health services in Nepal's Madesh Province were severely disrupted and risk of infection was high due to open borders, international commutes and lack of accurate information.

In November 2021, the Astellas Global Health Foundation awarded a $450,000 grant to World Vision to support its COVID-19 Preparedness and Recovery project in three districts within Madesh Province. The project aimed to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the community through education efforts and equipping health facilities for both in-patient and at-home care for COVID-19.

In October 2021, I was honored to be named the president of the Astellas Global Health Foundation. Launched in 2018, the Foundation has awarded nearly $7 million in grants to support charitable initiatives focused on improving access to health, building resilient communities and providing disaster support.

Our initial grants have helped support access to health initiatives focused on neglected tropical diseases and communicable disease care and treatment, children's health and mental health. The Foundation also has supported efforts intended to strengthen community health infrastructure and respond to disasters, such as the COVID-19 pandemic. We have embraced the importance of supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goal 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.

In February 2020, The Astellas Global Health Foundation announced it had awarded a three-year, $1.35 million grant to the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), under the direction of the Indiana University Center for Global Health and in partnership with Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), to provide access to mental health programming in western Kenya. Fast forward just over two years and the MTRH Nawiri Recovery & Skills Centre is now offering mental health services and skills development training to people living with mental illness.

The Centre offers an intermediate step between hospitalized mental health care and independent living. Residents share a common kitchen and living area, where they learn skills of daily living by preparing meals, helping to clean the Centre and managing the farm next to the Centre. They also receive training in subjects such as sewing, knitting, beading, farming, landscaping and computer skills to help them reach financial independence after leaving the Centre.

Since September 2020, the Astellas Global Health Foundation has directed more than $2.75 million in funding to help organizations respond to the COVID-19 pandemic in vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities. The emergency relief funding was granted to help improve healthcare infrastructure and COVID-19 training and education in underserved communities. The Foundation supports initiatives which address barriers to access to health, build community resilience and provide disaster support. Funding directed toward COVID-19 response efforts helps strengthen humanitarian efforts in vulnerable communities and limit the widespread effects of the pandemic.

So far, Astellas Global Health Foundation grants have supported COVID-19 initiatives that have impacted more than 1,200,000 people in Nigeria, Ethiopia, South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Nepal, Venezuela, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic. The inspiring organizations listed below rose to the challenge of providing critical support and services during a global pandemic within communities already contending with Access to Health adversity.

One of the most critical components in the fight against COVID-19 is protecting and supporting the individuals who provide healthcare to patients and communities impacted by the pandemic. Around the world, these essential frontline health workers, many of whom are considered "informal" or "semi-formal" health workers, are risking their lives to ensure vaccines, services and supplies reach the most underserved and at-risk communities. At least 70 percent of these workers are women, many of whom are underpaid or unpaid for the crucial work they do

Women are a vital part of CARE's community-based efforts to improve basic education, increase access to quality healthcare and expand economic opportunity for all. As part of its commitment to support the COVID-19 response in highly vulnerable communities, the Astellas Global Health Foundation has provided two grants to CARE. Through these investments in equipping, paying, training, and supporting workers, the Astellas Global Health Foundation has been proud to help make a sustainable impact on the COVID-19 response and the health of people around the world.

NORTHBROOK, Ill. - November 17, 2021 - The Astellas Global Health Foundation ("Foundation") announced today it will provide $1.85 million in combined new grants to five charitable organizations for urgent projects helping improve access to health and build community resilience including COVID-19 vaccine education and support - for vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations within Nepal, Honduras, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda and Venezuela.

Half the world lacks access to essential health services, with 100 million global citizens pushed into extreme poverty, according to a report from the World Bank and World Health Organization.¹

As the COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed healthcare systems since early 2020, its impact has been particularly devastating among vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. In Ghana, where already limited resources have been shifted to cope with COVID-19, a deep and critical need has increased to provide women and girls with access to safe and high-quality sexual and reproductive health services as well as accurate information related to COVID-19 prevention. The reason for the elevated need is in part due to increased sexual and gender-based violence and unintended pregnancies under COVID-19 restrictions and less pre- and post- natal care amid the fear of infection at health facilities.

With grant support from the Astellas Global Health Foundation (Foundation) awarded in August 2020, the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) implemented a one-year program to train adult and youth community health volunteers in universal infection prevention measures including appropriate use of personal protective equipment (PPE), as well as pharmacists and healthcare workers in targeted health facilities to foster improved access to quality and respectful sexual reproductive healthcare amid COVID-19.

According to the World Health Organization, women and newborns are most vulnerable during and immediately following childbirth.¹ In the Dominican Republic, an estimated 28 per 1,000 live births will result in a death prior to age five.²

To help increase access to quality healthcare services for women and newborns, the Astellas Global Health Foundation awarded nearly $700,000 through a two-year grant awarded in 2019 to UNICEF USA for the Mothers and Babies in Good Care Initiative in the Dominican Republic. Through the initiative, UNICEF coordinates with 10 hospitals and community health centers to help provide safe conditions for newborn babies. They also provide high quality and safe care to the babies' mothers. UNICEF is committed to ensuring these women are treated without fear of obstetric violence (e.g., dehumanizing treatment or medication abuse), which historically has had tragic consequences around the world. As part of these supportive efforts, UNICEF supports teaching the Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) practice that uses skin-to-skin contact, typically a parent's body, to warm and nurture a newborn baby, especially premature babies with low-birth weights.

When the first case of COVID-19 was announced in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in March 2020, the country was already battling an Ebola outbreak, fighting a measles outbreak that had infected 320,000 people and killed 6,000, and facing the consequences of many years of cyclical conflict, including unprecedented levels of malnutrition in several provinces.¹

World Vision stepped up quickly with a comprehensive COVID-19 response in the DRC, the largest relief response in the organization's history, which was supported in part by the Astellas Global Health Foundation.

El Salvador is among the most densely populated countries in Central America.¹ The government provides free public healthcare, but the demand far exceeds available resources. More than 75 percent of the population is cared for by the national health system, but not all have easy access to the services, or there isn't capacity to meet their health needs.¹

The Astellas Global Health Foundation awarded Americares a $600,000 grant in 2019, which was intended to help families living in rural El Salvador by strengthening the relief and development organization's clinical, community health and disaster preparedness efforts. Specifically, the grant helped expand the Americares Family Clinic in Santiago de Mar�a in rural eastern El Salvador, among the most impoverished communities in the region.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Astellas Global Health Foundation has pursued opportunities to support multiple non-governmental organizations working to combat the virus affecting those with extremely limited access to health resources in some the world's most vulnerable communities.

This includes northeast Nigeria, which is now the site of Africa's largest humanitarian emergency, with more than 10 million people estimated to be in urgent need of humanitarian assistance amid a conflict that has ravaged the area for more than a decade. With many people living in crowded camps after being forced to flee their homes and facing significant access to health challenges, preventing the spread of COVID-19 has been even more challenging.

In response to the growing challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Astellas Global Health Foundation (AGHF) recently provided $2 million in new and redirected emergency relief focused on improved healthcare infrastructure, COVID-19 training, and education impacting more than 725,000 lives in Kenya, Dominican Republic, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. This funding, which supports the important work of six organizational partners -- CARE, International Medical Corps, the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning, World Vision , AMPATH and UNICEF USA -- is intended to provide critical aid in their efforts to prevent the immediate spread and combat the long-term effects of COVID-19, in particularly vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities within these countries.

With these commitments, the AGHF has surpassed $5 million in grants awarded since its formation in 2018 to help countries where it's needed most.

Yet there is still so much work to do. Less than half the world is covered by essential health services (WHO and World Bank, 2017), and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, supported by the World Health Organization (WHO), have outlined bold goals for health and well-being, including ending the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases by 2030 (UN SDG 3.3).

As access to health, building resilient communities and providing disaster support remain such critical issues for communities worldwide, the AGHF is inspired by powerful initiatives that directly impact the world's most vulnerable populations. We look forward to continuing to persevere amidst today's many challenges and working toward "One World, A Healthier Tomorrow" through organizations that align with AGHF's focus areas For more information, please visit our website, and consider following us on Twitter and Facebook.

Healthiest wishes to all.

The Astellas Global Health Foundation ("Foundation") announced today it will provide $2 million in emergency relief focused on improved healthcare infrastructure, COVID-19 training and education impacting more than 725,000 lives in Kenya, Dominican Republic, South Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ghana, Ethiopia and Nigeria. The funding addresses the urgent needs of partners seeking to prevent the immediate spread and combat the long-term effects of COVID-19 in particularly vulnerable and hard-to-reach communities.

The Astellas Global Health Foundation ("Foundation") and the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH), under the direction of the Indiana University Center for Global Health, announced today that the Foundation has awarded a $1.35 million grant over three years to AMPATH to provide 400,000 people with access to mental health programming in western Kenya. AMPATH will integrate mental health services into AMPATH's chronic disease system in public health facilities and broaden population engagement through a mental health awareness campaign. Additionally, AMPATH will provide group transitional housing and care for patients with severe mental health disorders.

Today, the Astellas Global Health Foundation announced its first grant since the Foundation's inception, awarding $750,000 to the END Fund, a prominent philanthropic organization combating neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) worldwide. The END Fund will use the investment to deliver NTD treatments through mass drug administration mechanisms designed to control and eliminate NTDs in the Democratic Republic of Congo, one of the world's poorest countries ranking among the highest in NTD prevalence. Its residents have little access to healthcare (one in five children there dies of preventable diseases before reaching age 5),¹ and more than 55.5 million of its population requires treatment for at least one NTD.²

Despite continuing advances in technology and medicine, half the world lacks access to essential health services, and millions of deaths occur each year due to poor-quality healthcare.¹ The World Health Organization is calling for an end to epidemics by 2030, in alignment with the Sustainable Development Goal 3.3².

In response to this urgent global need, in late 2018 we formed the Astellas Global Health Foundation, a new international philanthropic organization dedicated primarily to improving access to health in underserved global communities in order to make a sustainable impact on the health of people worldwide.

The Astellas Global Health Foundation will address communities with the greatest unmet needs through better access to healthcare with an emphasis on neglected tropical diseases / communicable diseases, mental and children's health in low-income communities and low-and middle-income countries where Astellas does not have a commercial presence. These three areas have been identified as funding priorities because of their potential long-term impact on the world's most vulnerable populations, and high prevalence in these geographies. We will invest in novel, sustainable solutions that present evidence that work goes beyond aiding and begins to solve global access to health challenges. We will seek out partners who operate ethically and inclusively and measure impact. And, we will invest in organizations that have global reach and local implementation with ideas that can be replicated to expand over time.

As the president of the former Astellas USA Foundation and the new Astellas Global Health Foundation, it has been a privilege to work with many diverse organizations. In all, the Astellas USA Foundation contributed more than $20 million in the areas of health and well-being, disaster relief and STEM education, including more than $3 million over the last three years focused on STEM education for populations who lack the opportunities and resources needed to pursue STEM careers.

The Astellas Global Health Foundation is an evolution of these efforts, as well as the efforts of our colleagues in Europe and Asia, allowing us to build on the success achieved locally to make a greater impact in global populations most impacted by the acute challenges with access to health where the consequences are greatest. While this change is challenging, the transformation is necessary to respond to the growing need for access to health and to place the highest priority on working toward improving the health of people around the world.

To get started, the Astellas Global Health Foundation has issued a Request for Proposal to several established non-profit partners who are making an impact on the health of the most underserved, low-income communities around the world. We are seeking opportunities to fund multi-year programs led by organizations with a proven track record of addressing access to health within our categories and geographies of interest, as well as robust methods of measuring impact. We look forward to sharing our progress with you as the Astellas Global Health Foundation works with these committed organizations to help build a healthier future for some of the world's most underserved populations.

Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Kenji Yasukawa, Ph.D., "Astellas") announced the launch of the Astellas Global Health Foundation (AGHF), a new international philanthropic organization dedicated to improving access to health in underserved global communities. Key areas of focus for the AGHF initially will be neglected tropical and communicable diseases, children's health and mental health in low-income communities and low- and middle-income countries where Astellas, a company dedicated to improving the health of people around the world, does not have a commercial presence. Additionally, AGHF will fund programs that build healthier communities and provide disaster preparedness and relief in these same geographies.