Viatris 2023 Sustainability Report: Empowering Healthcare Workers

Health systems can only function with health workers. One of the greatest global hurdles in achieving equitable access to treatment and promoting good health is the growing gap in supply and demand for healthcare workers. Patient needs are increasing across the world and especially in LMICs. WHO projects there will be a global shortfall of about 10 million health workers by 2030.¹ Without a stable healthcare workforce, countries will not be able to meet these needs.

To help alleviate this growing challenge, Viatris invests in and engages in HCP outreach and education across the world.² We work via a combination of long-term partnerships, sponsoring medical symposiums and forums for rural community health workers as well as physicians at large city hospitals to help scale access to new research and best practices to address the world’s most pressing health challenges.

The NCD Academy was established to provide frontline workers with web-based educational tools that can be accessed anytime, anywhere and free of charge and was based on the understanding of the combined challenges of growing healthcare workloads, the time restraints and cost burden of traditional continued education, along with the increasing incidence and interconnectedness of NCDs. While the members of the primary healthcare workforce, including general practitioners, specialists, nurses, pharmacists and community health workers are the anticipated users, any person with an interest can access the courses.

Developed with our global partners, the American College of Cardiology, the World Heart Federation and the NCD Alliance, the NCD Academy includes courses covering the “Big 5” NCDs that contribute the most to global mortality and morbidity: cardiovascular disease, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and mental health disorders. In 2023, we expanded the NCD Academy by adding two new courses: social determinants of health and chronic respiratory diseases, which was developed by the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS).

Promoting Equitable Access

Viatris supports initiatives around the world to advance education focused on addressing existing health inequities. Examples of this work include:

• The NCD Academy’s social determinants of health course was released in 2023 on World Health Day, themed “Health for All.” The course aims to educate and increase awareness of health inequities and provide support on how to address them to achieve equitable care for all.
• In the U.S., we are one of the founding sponsors of HealthyWomen: Ready, Healthy and Able program, an educational pilot project for healthcare providers and servicewomen directed at increasing comprehensive, inclusive and integrated women’s healthcare across the military branches.
• Viatris Connect Medical, which is a dedicated online HCP portal available in several countries, was launched in 2023 across India, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Iraq and Kuwait. The site helps HCPs keep themselves updated on the latest medical advances through access to journals, guidelines, continuing medical education, talks and much more.

Supporting healthcare professionals access to medical education globally through strong partnerships is a key part of Viatris’ holistic approach to overcome barriers to equitable access to care.

Lobna Salem Interim Head of Global Medical Affairs, Viatris

Many local scientific societies have also partnered with the NCD Academy to ensure awareness and access for their members. More than eight courses are available, and selected courses have been translated into 14 languages. In 2023, those translations included Bulgarian, Croatian, Chinese, Greek, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Thai, Turkish and Vietnamese. Another 19 new course translations are expected in 2024.

Nearly 5,000 new users signed on to the NCD Academy in 2023, for a total of 24,000 accounts created. It is estimated that these new users will positively impact approximately 12.6 million patients annually. Since the launch of the NCD Academy in 2020, it’s estimated to impact approximately 60.5 million patients.³

We have several important partnerships beyond the NCD Alliance to empower healthcare workers across the world. We engage HCPs through various channels, including medical education programs in diversified portfolios, digital platforms with dedicated medical content, partnerships with multi-disciplinary stakeholders and customer facing activities, regional forums and advisory boards.

As part of putting the importance of bringing more resources to healthcare workers at the top of the political agenda, we supported multi-stakeholder events in New York City as a side event during the U.N. General Assembly and at the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Middle East and Eastern Mediterranean chapter meeting in Athens, Greece, which focused on developing capabilities of healthcare workers, organized in partnership with the American College of Cardiology and the NCD Alliance.

In Egypt, we collaborated with the Pharmaceutical Committee of AmCham Egypt to support the Explore, Innovate, and Change Capacity Building initiative of the Egyptian Healthcare Authority covering 100 representatives across five governorates. We also sponsored the HEAL Forum Conference 2023 in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, a medical regional event aimed at advancing healthcare innovation for a healthier, more equitable future. It featured more than 60 speaking experts and more than 16,000 participating HCPs.

In collaboration with the Saudi Hypertension Management Society, we sponsored a cardiometabolic disease clinic in Saudi Arabia to educate HCPs about comorbidities such as hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity and depression. And we supported HCP education on chronic disease management by helping organize the Helping CHEN Summit in Singapore in collaboration with the Singapore Medical Association.

We leverage digital solutions to reach HCPs, including the launch of MED-CAST, the first continuing medical education podcast for HCPs in Italy with initial offerings on cardiovascular health topics. In Korea, we provided HCP education through a variety of digital channels, including the MedConnect website, featuring one-on-one training in several therapeutic areas, detailed product information and access to online educational symposiums, among other resources.

In Europe, Viatris supported the creation of four podcasts to educate healthcare professionals on essential topics with the goal of equipping HCPs with the knowledge and skills necessary to diagnose thrombotic disorders in a variety of clinical conditions and to treat them with best-in-class clinical management.

We are partners with ESNO (European Specialist Nurses Organization) to support the capability development of nurses in Europe and to limit their shortages to strengthen healthcare systems and improve the quality of patient care. We supported the “Decade of the Specialist Nurse 2020-2030” project, which provided educational materials and other resources to inform and educate the healthcare community on the role of specialist nurses.

In the U.S., we sponsored the ACTRIMS (the American Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis) to develop an educational program to educate physicians on personalizing MS treatment and care.

Goal: Impact 100 million patients via HCP education and outreach regarding prevention, diagnosis and treatment options for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer and other important chronic conditions to improve outcomes through the NCD Academy by the end of 2025.*

Our Progress: More than 24,000 individuals have an NCD Academy account, representing approximately 60.5 million patients impact³ to date.

View the full 2023 Sustainability Report.

*Our ability to make progress on our goals depends on several factors, some of which are outside of our control.

^{1 Patient reach calculated by multiplying the number of HCP learners by the average number of patients treated, as self-reported by HCP learners upon registering for NCD Academy. Patient reach includes unique patients as well as repeat patient encounters.}

^{1 Health Workforce}

^{2 These interactions are governed by Viatris’ policies and processes, resting on well-established regulations, ethical standards and robust processes.}

^{3 Patient reach calculated by multiplying the number of HCP learners by the average number of patients treated, as self-reported by HCP learners upon registering for NCD Academy. Patient reach includes unique patients as well as repeat patient encounters.}