Global health equity and community impact
Our Global Health Equity (GHE) organization combines world-class research and development, global strategy and external affairs capabilities with local implementation and impact teams. We never lose sight of the people we serve or the possibilities science provides. The Global Community Impact (GCI) organization—with funding from the Johnson & Johnson Foundation and other functional divisions and operating companies across the Johnson & Johnson —drives programming for our community giving, social impact and other philanthropic initiatives around the world.
More than half the world’s population lacks access to essential health services. With Johnson & Johnson Impact Ventures, our GCI team can invest in innovative companies and entrepreneurs that are improving health equity for underserved patients.
Our continued efforts
The world is facing a 10 million healthcare worker shortage and an inability to properly equip them. The Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation was founded to catalyze efforts to respond to the human resources crisis in global health and build a thriving health workforce. Through this, our GCI team is tasked with guiding a $250 million, 10-year commitment to support one million nurses, midwives and community health workers and a $50 million commitment to support frontline health workers battling COVID-19.
- Providing Psychosocial and Well-being Resources for Frontline Health Workers
- As part of our commitment, we support programs focused on offering psychosocial and well-being resources to frontline health workers. Our goal is to reach 100 million people by 2030.
- We firmly believe that the well-being of those who deliver care is essential to improving access to quality healthcare, especially as COVID-19 has only exacerbated the stresses health workers face, including risk of infection, workload, medical supply shortages, depletion of personal protective equipment, losing patients and colleagues and the fear of infecting family and friends.
At Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine, we envision a world where all people living in low- and middle-income countries have access to quality healthcare. For over 50 years, we have been dedicated to discovering and developing innovative treatments for conditions affecting the brain and central nervous system. Now, our GPH team is building on this legacy by expanding access to mental healthcare for the world’s most vulnerable and underserved populations with initiatives including:
- Working in Partnership to Improve Mental Healthcare in Rwanda
- In 2018, our GPH organization joined forces with the Rwanda Ministry of Health to initiate a comprehensive pilot project. The goal was to strengthen and broaden access to quality mental healthcare, particularly for severe mental illnesses like schizophrenia.
- We aim to demonstrate that affordable and scalable care models can be applied successfully in low- and middle-income countries, where many patients currently lack the support they need.
Collaborating to end stigma
Science Over Stigma (SOS) is a new global coalition of public, private and non-governmental organizations committed to ending stigma related to mental health challenges. Together with our partners, we are bringing together advocacy, social and biologic sciences and arts and culture so we can:
- Speak with one voice by integrating the fragmented ecosystem of mental health initiatives and identifying new opportunities for collective impact.
- Demystify mental illness by working together to drive understanding of its physiologic aspects.
- Engage hearts and minds by fueling fresh dialogue about stigma and mental health through storytelling and expressive arts.
Tuberculosis (TB) remains a major global health challenge, claiming the lives of 1.6 million people in 2021, despite being preventable and curable. The burden of this disease falls heavily on underserved communities, with over 95% of TB-related deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. To drive progress to the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goal target of ending TB by 2030, our GPH team has launched a 10-year initiative centered around three key pillars:
- Expanding Global Access: Working towards providing our multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) treatment to more than 135 low- and middle-income countries, as well as non-governmental organizations. To ensure future patients can also benefit, we are partnering with the Stop TB Partnership’s Global Drug Facility (GDF) and exercising careful stewardship in the face of rising antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
- Finding the “Missing Millions": Supporting global efforts to identify those with undiagnosed TB and MDR-TB by leveraging our expertise in behavioral science to engage youth and raise community awareness in an effort to promote health-seeking behavior and early diagnosis.
- Investing in Research and Development (R&D): Developing shorter, safer and simpler treatment regimens to stay ahead of AMR and end TB.
Johnson & Johnson’s most recent Health for Humanity Report details our environmental, social and governance (ESG) progress and performance across our business segments: Innovative Medicines and MedTech.