Oxford Health Alliance

The Oxford Health Alliance (OxHA) is a multi-stakeholder initiative launched in 2003 by Novo Nordisk and the University of Oxford to focus attention on the prevention of chronic diseases. OxHA recognises that prevention is the key to slowing the epidemic of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, lung disease and some cancers, which account for 60% of deaths globally. In a report in 2005, the World Health Organization offered compelling evidence that a pandemic in chronic disease is under way, disproportionately affecting low- and middle-income countries, where treatments for diseases are less accessible. Chronic diseases are linked to three risk factors: tobacco, an unhealthy diet and lack of physical exercise.

The projected numbers for the year 2020 are frightening, putting an impossible burden on people and healthcare systems alike. If the current spiral continues unabated, 333 million people will have diabetes by 2025, according to the International Diabetes Federation. Raising awareness, changing behaviour and reorienting health systems to meet this challenge is a huge undertaking. It requires working across many different sectors with the participation of people from all parts of the globe. The Oxford Health Alliance enables experts and activists from different backgrounds to collaborate to raise awareness and change behaviours, policies and perspectives at every level of society.

In 2004 Novo Nordisk, which is represented on the OxHA board of trustees, committed 3 million British pounds over three years to support the initiative. OxHA will shortly become an independent, non-profit foundation, which will allow it to attract a wider range of partners and funding than would have been possible were it solely a Novo Nordisk-funded initiative.

The Oxford Health Alliance is based in London. Its approximately 200 members include experts and activists from different backgrounds, such as government and public health agencies, universities, corporations, organizations such as the World Bank, the World Health Organisation and the World Heart Federation, patients' rights advocates, doctors, nurses, and others who share a sense of urgency about the worldwide epidemic in chronic disease. It aims to educate and influence critical decision-makers so that the pressing case for preventative measures can advance. It is committed to building the evidence base and the campaigning skills needed to effect policy change.

The Oxford Health Alliance meets annually to forward the Alliance's agenda. In November 2005 it met at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, US, for a three-day conference at which a variety of renowned speakers presented the latest research on prevention of chronic diseases, followed by smaller working-group sessions to develop the group's plan of action further.

Among the initiatives of the Oxford Health Alliance is CAPCoD (Community Action to Prevent Chronic Disease), a programme designed to bring together chronic disease researchers from both the developed and developing worlds to work together in piloting research programmes for chronic disease prevention.

OxHA is working in a number of other relevant areas, in particular: the economic argument for prevention of chronic disease; prevention in the workplace; youth and schools; design in prevention (eg urban planning); and the contribution of industry to chronic disease and prevention.

In the future OxHA will increasingly focus on the developing world. In recognition of this, the 2006 meeting will be held in Cape Town, South Africa. Themes for discussion are likely to include transitions in healthcare in the developing world, patients' participation, funding in healthcare, and the work areas mentioned above.

For more information, visit the website

There are several reasons why it makes sense for Novo Nordisk to support such an initiative:

• Business goals: It will move diabetes (and other chronic diseases) higher up the public agenda, which will inevitably lead to more and better treatment of diabetes, and hopefully more use of Novo Nordisk products to treat diabetes.
• Company vision: The company's vision is to defeat diabetes. This is only possible if the world finds better ways of preventing diabetes, which is what OxHA is all about.
• Partnership: Novo Nordisk recognises that it cannot defeat diabetes on its own and that, in fact, no single entity can accomplish that goal. Only by pooling resources and thinking will it be possible to identify and implement solutions that will have an impact.
• Stakeholder engagement: Novo Nordisk recognises that part of its success as a company is due to the dialogue and relations that the company has with people who in one way or another form public policy and opinion. Through OxHA, Novo Nordisk will meet with, learn from and have the opportunity to work with some of the people who will shape health policies during the next decade. 
• Keeping abreast of trends: New ideas emerge when leading thinkers meet. Among these ideas are some that will lead to new ways of thinking about healthcare and the role of industry in healthcare. Novo Nordisk's involvement with OxHA will help it be among the first to know.

While it is true that a small organisation like the Oxford Health Alliance cannot solve such a huge problem on its own, Novo Nordisk's experience with the World Diabetes Foundation shows that a small NGO can have a significant impact on even very large problems.

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