As Summer draws to a close, the world has not seen equitable progress in ending the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Some countries, including the United States, are experiencing spikes in infections, largely stemming from new, highly infectious variants. Vaccination rates remain uneven around the world. World Health Organization Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has pleaded with wealthy nations to postpone booster shots until the international community reaches the goal of vaccinating at least 10 percent of each country’s population with at least one dose. Some regions remain severely under target, while others, largely in high-income nations, are forging ahead with administering third doses to high-risk populations.

With questions of vaccine equity dominating discussions around ending the pandemic, Rabin Martin examines the issue of health equity more broadly – beyond COVID-19 – in this edition of our newsletter. We hear directly from our clients about this important topic and provide a snapshot of our work to help ensure that all people have access to quality healthcare.

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CLIENT PERSPECTIVES ON HEALTH EQUITY

Changing the Mindset about Health Equity: Interview with Dr. Mary-Ann Etiebet, Associate Vice President, Health Equity, Merck & Co., Inc., and Lead, Merck For Mothers

Q: What do you see as the pharmaceutical industry’s role in advancing health equity?

I’d like to flip that question and have us think about the enormous opportunity for our industry and for society when we consider the many different ways that pharma can help advance health equity. Often the conversation around health equity is limited to what the healthcare delivery system can do, but when you refocus people on the goal – more equitable health outcomes – you realize that it is a bigger conversation and that only a whole of society approach will get us there.

For example, we know that 80 percent of the drivers of health equity lie outside the health sector. When you embed a health equity mindset into how you think about business strategy, suddenly all these opportunities present themselves across the pharma value chain. For example, your supplier strategy can help drive economic opportunity. Through OneTen, Merck is helping to lead a coalition of companies that aim to upskill, hire, and promote one million Black Americans over the next 10 years into family-sustaining jobs with opportunities for advancement.

By embedding a health equity mindset into what we do day in and day out as part of core business operations, we will have a greater chance of moving the needle towards a healthier, more equitable society than what we could achieve through philanthropic ventures alone.

Q: How should we be thinking differently about health equity from a business perspective?

There’s a consensus that a diverse workforce and an inclusive workplace are good for the bottom line. Today, it is critical for us to create the same shared understanding that equity, the ‘E’ in DE&I, is also a powerful driver for business growth and transformation. Right now, many companies are leaving that tool on the table. If we are not innovating and collaborating to help ensure that our products result in equitable health outcomes across diverse populations – especially since some historically underserved communities are fast-growing segments of the population with growing disease burdens – then we’re missing out on current and future opportunities to grow our business and demonstrate our value to society.

Q: What excites you most about Merck’s work in health equity and why?

I’m struck by the groundswell of activities already underway in teams across our company to address inequities – from integrating social determinants of health considerations into clinical trial recruitment and commercialization strategies, to meeting people where they are in our patient engagement strategies, and to strengthening the ability of health ecosystems to improve access to quality care through our social impact investments. This really is a bottoms-up movement, fueled by the passion and values and commitment of employees. Now it’s time to take that momentum, extract learnings from what’s happening, and hold ourselves accountable for delivering impact for patients and communities.

Advancing Health Equity from an R&D Perspective: Interview with Dr. Chris Reddick, Vice President and Head, R&D Health Equity, Takeda

Q: What do you see as the pharmaceutical industry’s role in advancing health equity?

When most people think about pharma’s role in health equity, they focus almost exclusively on the need to diversify clinical trials. It’s true that there is a very real and pressing need to diversify clinical trials to better reflect the patients we serve, especially those from traditionally underrepresented populations. And Takeda and our peers are making strides there.

At the same time, it’s important that we work to address health disparities and the underlying social determinants of health that disproportionately impact underserved communities, particularly those of color. We need to broaden our perspective and think about how our work as an industry can help to strengthen underserved communities long-term. How can we help to increase jobs, get young people involved in STEM, and help improve the capabilities of the healthcare systems that are rooted in communities?

Q: What excites you most about Takeda’s work in health equity and why?

At Takeda, we are committed to creating a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive culture – not only within our own walls, but also within communities.

We established our Center for Health Equity and Patient Affairs and embedded it within our R&D organization to realize this ambition. The center works to identify and address health inequities, provide early patient access to Takeda medicines, accelerate the time to diagnosis for children with rare diseases, and engage patients throughout the drug development process.

Integrating health equity into the R&D pathway has required us to challenge ourselves in myriad ways, from adapting our programs, plans, and processes to address identified health inequities to engaging with a more diverse network of patients, communities, partners, and suppliers. Through our programs, we are also sharing our expertise and skills to strengthen communities to improve patient care more sustainably. We hope that this innovative model will enable Takeda to create a more inclusive ecosystem and build greater trust with communities and patients around the world.

Q: What do you see as the big opportunities to do more in R&D to advance health equity?

We, as industry, need to engage communities more intentionally. This includes partnerships with organizations that R&D teams in the pharmaceutical industry don’t typically work with, such as NGOs and other community-based organizations. These partners are critical because they know what is needed in a community and they’ve earned the trust of that community over decades. We can learn so much from our partners: what the community has already done, where it wants to focus next, and what the gaps and barriers are. This approach will hopefully get us closer to more equitable patient outcomes.

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Client Highlights

Register Now for Merck for Mothers’ 10th Anniversary Virtual Event: September 14^th

Merck for Mothers, the company’s global initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die while giving life, is celebrating its 10-year anniversary with a virtual event taking place on Tuesday, September 14 at 9:00am ET.

For the past decade, the initiative has worked across sectors to tackle one of the most preventable global health tragedies: maternal mortality. Please join this special event featuring panel discussions and multimedia stories about the vital work underway to strengthen health systems so they can deliver high-quality maternity care services that benefit all women and their communities. Participants include Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General, World Health Organization, and Helen Clark, Former Prime Minister, New Zealand, among other committed individuals working to improve women’s health around the world. Register here.

Back to School with Actions 4 Aces Campaign

As students head back to the classroom this month, it will be important to focus on learning and healing from the challenges and traumas of the past year. In June, Rabin Martin supported the launch of the Actions 4 ACEs campaign – a collaborative initiative with The Burke Foundation and the New Jersey ACEs Collaborative to raise public awareness about adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and the simple, yet powerful, actions that adults can take to make a positive impact in children’s lives.

Rabin Martin and Porter Novelli supported the campaign which aims to mitigate the impact of adversity on young people in New Jersey. While Actions 4 ACEs is geared towards educators and law enforcement professionals, the message is universal: one caring competent adult can make the difference in the life of a child who has experienced trauma. The launch event is available for viewing here.

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About Rabin Martin

Rabin Martin is a global health strategy firm working at the intersection of private sector capabilities and unmet public health needs. Rooted in our mission to improve health for underserved populations, we design strategies, programs and partnerships that both deliver public health impact and drive business results. We leverage our deep knowledge and networks across a wide range of geographies and health areas to develop tailored solutions for every client engagement. We have helped many clients create bold global health initiatives and innovative multi-sector partnerships. Our specific areas of expertise include infectious disease and vaccines, non-communicable diseases, rare diseases, maternal and child health, and universal health coverage. Our clients and partners include multinational health care companies, multilateral institutions, government agencies, large foundations and leading NGOs. Rabin Martin is part of the Omnicom Public Relations Group.