The Novartis Foundation (formerly known as the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development) is a

non-profit organization A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

and part of the corporate responsibility portfolio of

Novartis Novartis AG is a Swiss multinational corporation, multinational pharmaceutical company, pharmaceutical corporation based in Basel, Switzerland. Novartis is one of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world and was the eighth largest by re ...

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. The foundation conducts projects to improve health, mostly in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

and in

south-east Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Australian mainland, which is part of Oceania. Southeast Asia i ...

History

The Novartis Foundation has been one of the leading organizations in the private sector for international development for the last 35 years. The humanitarian engagement of the Novartis Foundation goes back to the 1960s, when the Basel-based companies Ciba, Geigy,

Sandoz Sandoz Group AG is a Swiss company that focuses on generic pharmaceuticals and biosimilars. Prior to October 2023, it was part of a division of Novartis that was established in 2003, when Novartis united all of its generics businesses under the ...

, Durand & Huguenin,

Hoffmann-La Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Swiss multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on ...

and Lonza founded the Basel Foundation for Developing Countries. The Basel Foundation, for example, supported the field laboratory of the

Swiss Tropical Institute The Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute or Swiss TPH (formerly known as the Swiss Tropical Institute) is an international global health institute working in various disciplines with a particular focus on low- and middle-income countries. I ...

(now known as the

Ifakara Health Institute The Ifakara Health Institute (IHI) is a health research organization with offices in Ifakara, Dar es Salaam, Ikwiriri, Bagamoyo, and Mtwara, Tanzania. The institute conducts health-related research in a variety of areas, including malaria and H ...

) located in

Ifakara Ifakara is a town in the Kilombero District, Morogoro Region, south central Tanzania. It is the headquarters of the Kilombero District administration and the main trading centre for Kilombero and Ulanga districts. The town is located near the Ta ...

, which still works closely with the Novartis Foundation. Today, the Novartis Foundation focuses its work on the fight against

leprosy Leprosy, also known as Hansen's disease (HD), is a Chronic condition, long-term infection by the bacteria ''Mycobacterium leprae'' or ''Mycobacterium lepromatosis''. Infection can lead to damage of the Peripheral nervous system, nerves, respir ...

and

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

, as well as on access to healthcare projects. The foundation acts as facilitator between the

private sector The private sector is the part of the economy which is owned by private groups, usually as a means of establishment for profit or non profit, rather than being owned by the government. Employment The private sector employs most of the workfo ...

, the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

and

civil society Civil society can be understood as the "third sector" of society, distinct from government and business, and including the family and the private sphere.sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

and on the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

. The aim is to improve access to

primary healthcare Primary health care (PHC) is a whole-of-society approach to effectively organise and strengthen national health systems to bring services for health and wellbeing closer to communities. Primary health care enables health systems to support a p ...

and to strengthen the local healthcare systems. The foundation fosters health policy among the

non-governmental organizations A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

research institutions A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural sc ...

and state organizations. The foundation organizes an international

symposium In Ancient Greece, the symposium (, ''sympósion'', from συμπίνειν, ''sympínein'', 'to drink together') was the part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was accompanied by music, dancing, recitals, o ...

in Basel every year.

Other organisations called 'Novartis Foundation'

The Novartis Foundation was a scientific and educational charity, formed in 1949 by the Swiss company Ciba, now

, and dissolved in 2008. It was the direct successor to the Ciba Foundation, and the changed name (Novartis Foundation) reflected the new name of Ciba, after merging with Sandoz. The Foundation was the brainchild of

Robert Käppeli The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' () "fame, glory, honour, praise, reno ...

, managing director (and later president) of Ciba. The purpose of the institution was to promote collaboration in the medical sciences by the organisation of symposia which would allow experts of different fields to share ideas. Symposia took place both at their

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

premises and also in locations across the globe. Later these discussions were written up by in-house editors and published by

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Publishing, publishing company that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company was founded in 1807 and pr ...

, with whom the foundation had a long-standing relationship. Novartis, though it provided financial support for the foundation, was not (in later years) represented on the board of trustees and occupied only a minority of seats on the executive council. The company withdrew their financial support from the foundation in February 2008. The trustees chose to undergo a merger with the

Academy of Medical Sciences The Academy of Medical Sciences is an organisation established in the UK in 1998. It is one of the four UK National Academy, National Academies, the others being the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society. Its ...

, which occurred on 31 July 2008 prior to the dissolution of the foundation later that year The foundation had its headquarters at 41 Portland Place in central

, UK. The headquarters was refurbished and reopened by the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2010.

References

External links

Novartis Foundation
{{Authority control Novartis Non-profit organisations based in Switzerland Foundations based in Switzerland Medical and health foundations