Despite advances, billions of people across the globe, mostly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), still cannot access the medicines they need. More than 80% of the world’s population live in LMICs. Healthcare investors and financial stakeholders have an opportunity to work with the healthcare and the pharmaceutical sector to address these inequalities, paving the way for equitable medicines access. The Covid-19 pandemic was a turning point in the fight for equitable access to medicine with the majority of pharmaceutical companies recognising the importance of scaling their efforts and implementing access policies to reach as many patients as possible, regardless of where they live. Investors and key players in the responsible investing space have the unique position to further drive this momentum amongst companies and come together and explore win-win strategies that increase access to medicine globally.

The Access to Medicine Foundation and Medicines Patent Pool are delighted to host a side event at PRI Tokyo which will highlight the benefits of integrating access in the investment process from a business perspective and underscoring its impact on health equity and positive impact on investment yield. The work of the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) in transforming access for infectious and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) across the world has demonstrated the kind of impact that is possible. Voluntary licensing is one of several sustainable access strategies that will be explored on this panel. Together, with our panellists, we hope to shed light on different strategies that can be employed to expand access to medicines globally, with a focus on the social impact of ESG investing in the healthcare sector. Investors will share how they've used our insights to inform their engagements and pave the way for change and what's next on the agenda.

The meeting room is Ogyoku on level 1F (the same level as the venue entrance and main PIP registration). Delegates may arrive via the main entrance to Pamir or via a corridor connecting to the hotel. The address is the same as PIP: International Convention Centre Pamir, Grand Prince Hotel Shin Takanawa, 3-13-1 Takanawa, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-8612, Japan

Onsite contact for enquiries:

Access to Medicine Foundation: svanes@accesstomedicinefoundation.org

Medicines Patent Pool: hmoak@medicinespatentpool.org

The S of ESG in Healthcare: Enabling Strategic Access to Medicine globally