AstraZeneca has re-upped its UNICEF-partnered Young Health Programme (YHP), committing to a new five-year phase that will move total investment in the initiative above $100 million.
YHP supports young people in underserved communities. Since starting in 2010, the program has directly reached 23 million young people across more than 60 countries, AstraZeneca said. YHP has helped train more than 1 million people and “supported youth advocates to positively shape 29 laws and policies.” AstraZeneca supported the activities, including through the $35 million pledge it made in 2019.
The drugmaker aims to accelerate the program in the next five-year phase. By 2030, AstraZeneca hopes YHP will reach an additional 10 million young people, train 800,000 youth advocates and help shape 17 public policies worldwide.
Working with more than 60 partners, AstraZeneca plans to emphasize youth-led action, health equity and climate responsiveness in the next phase of the program. The focus reflects recognition that young people are both disproportionately affected by these challenges and “powerful agents of change.”
It is unclear how much new funding AstraZeneca is providing. Total funding will exceed $100 million by 2030, but that figure includes the $35 million committed in 2019 and all other support since 2010. Even so, the available data show that the program has grown more ambitious over time.
AstraZeneca launched (PDF) YHP in 2010 with Plan International and Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. Through the program, the company aimed to “help disconnected young people around the world understand and deal with the health issues they face.” By 2015, YHP had reached (PDF) more than 1.4 million young people, exceeding AstraZeneca’s original 1 million goal.
An expanded program underpins AstraZeneca’s belief that YHP can reach 10 times more young people in the current five-year phase than it targeted in the first five years. YHP launched in Kenya in 2016, expanded into Indonesia in 2018 and arrived in the U.K. in 2020. UNICEF joined the program in 2020.