Novartis and the Novartis Foundation have been working with partners around the world to eliminate leprosy for over 30 years, and to eliminate malaria for over 20 years.

The Novartis Foundation leprosy program

Leprosy is one of the oldest diseases known to man, but about 200,000 new patients are still diagnosed every year and an estimated 2-3 million people live with physical disability and stigmatization because of the disease. Novartis Foundation leprosy initiatives have included the Leprosy Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (LPEP) Program, the Leprosy Alert and Response Network System (LEARNS), and AI4Leprosy.

 

The Novartis Foundation malaria program 

Despite the tremendous progress made in combating malaria, one child still dies from the disease every two minutes. According to the WHO, there were 228 million cases of malaria in 2018, with an estimated 405,000 deaths. The Novartis Foundation’s efforts to tackle this disease included a targeted parasite elimination (TPE) strategy.

Testing of a child for malaria in Namibia by taking blood from the child's finger tip

Malaria TPE Strategy

Defining the optimal strategy to interrupt malaria transmission and strengthening health surveillance and response capabilities.