Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) today announced a $250 million commitment to frontline health workers through the company's founding of the new Center for Health Worker Innovation.
Recognizing the World Health Organization (WHO) Year of the Nurse and Midwife and the critical role health workers play in early detection and response to pandemics like the ongoing Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Center will support one million nurses, midwives and community health workers by 2030 reaching 100 million patients.
The Center responds to the WHO's projected shortage of more than 18 million frontline health workers by 2030, as well as the quality crisis in low- and middle-income country health systems. It recognizes that achievement of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and effective pandemic preparedness are anchored in well-functioning primary and community health systems, with frontline health workers at their heart.
'Even the most innovative solutions cannot successfully treat or prevent a disease without trained, equipped frontline health workers to administer them to a patient,' said Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer at Johnson & Johnson. 'Today's announcement continues J&J's century-long legacy of support for nurses, midwives, and community health workers around the globe through our new Center for Health Worker Innovation.'
For decades, Johnson & Johnson has partnered with UNICEF to advance the health of children worldwide, including a $10 million commitment made on World Children's Day 2018. 'Every five seconds, a child somewhere around the world dies, mostly from conditions that can be prevented and treated,' said Executive Director Henrietta H. Fore of UNICEF. 'We commend Johnson & Johnson's continued commitment to those on the front lines of children's health - skilled and equipped community health workers, nurses, and midwives.'
Johnson & Johnson is also proud to work alongside the South African government as they strengthen the link between communities and primary care in pursuit of universal health coverage. Nationally-scaled digital health programs like MomConnect and NurseConnect support communities and frontline health workers with vital health information and communication channels. The Center for Health Worker Innovation is now collaborating with the South African Ministry of Health to co-create an action plan to address the critical gaps faced by community health workers as they work to improve access to healthcare for all South Africans.
'A well-supported frontline health workforce is key to meeting our vision of a long and healthy life for all South Africans,' said Dr Yogan Pillay, Deputy-Director General in the South African National Department of Health. 'When we empower health workers and the patients they serve, the whole health system benefits.'
'The Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation is an enterprise-wide effort to inspire, recruit, train, retain, and mobilize frontline health workers because in solving the challenges they face, we can improve healthcare for everyone,' said Lauren Moore, Vice President, Global Community Impact at Johnson & Johnson. 'No single institution can solve the human resource crisis in global health alone - but together, we can create a world where resilient frontline health workers provide the world's most vulnerable people with the quality care they need to live full, healthy lives.'
A press conference with Johnson & Johnson and select partners will be held at the World Economic Forum 50th Annual Meeting at 11:45am (local time) on January 23rd.
About Center for Health Worker Innovation
The Johnson & Johnson Center for Health Worker Innovation is a virtual center that will pursue an initial set of five priorities. In the tradition of Our Credo to 'put people first', we have adopted a human-centered approach, impacting the system by first focusing on the needs of an individual health worker and what s/he needs to thrive on the job.
Respect & Recognition - ensuring frontline health workers are valued by the communities they serve, and accredited and compensated by government and health systems.
Training & Education - ensuring frontline health workers have the skills and capabilities they require to deliver their services with confidence and quality.
Leadership & Management - ensuring frontline health workers have opportunities to grow as leaders and have access to effective management.
Well-being & Resilience - ensuring frontline health workers can prioritize their own health and access resources to manage the stress and demands of the job.
Connection & Integration - ensuring frontline health workers are connected to each other, to communities and to health systems.
About Johnson & Johnson
At Johnson & Johnson, we believe good health is the foundation of vibrant lives, thriving communities, and forward progress. That's why for more than 130 years, we have aimed to keep people well at every age and every stage of life. Today, as the world's largest and most broadly-based health care company, we are committed to using our reach and size for good. We strive to improve access and affordability, create healthier communities, and put a healthy mind, body and environment within reach of everyone, everywhere. We are blending our heart, science and ingenuity to profoundly change the trajectory of health for humanity.
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