Case Study:
Reducing Global Impact of NCDs
Medtronic
710 Medtronic Parkway
Minneapolis, Minn. 55432-5604
www.medtronic.com/ncd
Contact: Heather Hudnut Page, director, Medtronic Foundation and Community Affairs
Organizational Profile: Foundation and Corporate Giving Program
How this program connects to the five-point leadership agenda of Increasing Impact,
Enhancing Value:
1. Create a new narrative for corporate philanthropy as an investment in society.
4. Improve collaboration, communication, and knowledge sharing.
What problem or issue were you trying to overcome? What was the ultimate objective?
The Medtronic Global NCD Initiative leverages all of the company’s assets to help alleviate the
global burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs). Cancer, heart and respiratory diseases,
and diabetes kill more people each year than any other cause of death. In 2008, NCDs were
responsible for 36 million deaths. That’s 63 percent of all deaths worldwide, and the number is
projected to reach 52 million by 2030. Eighty percent of people dying from NCDs reside in low
to middle-income countries without sufficient access to treatment. With nearly half dying in
their productive years (under age 70), the impact on emerging economies is staggering.
Medtronic is committed to expanding access to care for patients with chronic diseases by
achieving the following objectives:
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Treat 25 million patients per year by 2020. Today, the company treats seven million patients,
including one million in emerging markets. Included in the 25 million patient goal is a target
of 15 million patients in emerging markets.
Leverage Medtronic people, products, and philanthropy to address NCDs, a global social
issue aligned with our core competencies, business focus, and mission.
Ensure NCDs are included in the United Nations’ 2015 Millennium Development goals.
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Position the private sector as an important partner in achieving solutions to global NCD
challenges and Medtronic as an authentic thought leader in treating NCDs.
Increase awareness of NCD issues and access to care—particularly diabetes, cardiac, and
vascular therapies—in emerging markets.
What strategies, tools, and resources were used to address the issue and achieve the goals?
A core team of representatives from Medtronic, Inc. and the Medtronic Foundation are driving
activities aligned with three strategies: global policy and advocacy, strengthening health
systems, and innovation in therapy and health-care delivery.
Following are our primary tools:
• grants to support nonprofit partners working to strengthen health systems and increase
access to NCD care
• public policy initiatives to elevate chronic disease prevention and care on global and
national agendas
• event participation to position the private sector as an important partner in addressing
NCDs
• clinical expertise to advance effective, life-enhancing treatments
• social media to raise public awareness and engage NCD stakeholders
Allocations for NCD-related work are incorporated in department budgets, such as external
affairs, R&D, the Medtronic Foundation, and our various business units. In addition, the
Medtronic Global NCD Initiative has a corporate communications budget. Internally, the
initiative is driven by External Affairs and the Medtronic Foundation, with outreach to our
business units and business strategy teams. Externally, we partner with organizations ranging
from NGOs to policymakers, regulators, health-care professionals, government agencies, other
private sector companies, and patient-advocacy groups.
What were the steps in implementing the solution?
We created a pan-Medtronic team which defined our three-pronged strategy of global policy
and advocacy, strengthening health systems, and therapy and healthcare delivery. The team
then forges multi-sector partnerships to drive activities aligned with our objectives.
Some examples include:
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The Medtronic Foundation’s grants to regional centers of excellence in India,
China, South Africa, and Latin America to develop models for integrating chronic
disease care into the primary health infrastructure; creating and disseminating
best practices among nurses, doctors, and community health workers;
formulating accredited training curricula for health-care providers; and building
affordable technologies for screening and diagnosis of chronic disease.
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As a member of the Workplace Wellness Alliance, a consortium launched at the
World Economic Forum to advance workplace health and productivity,
Medtronic is exchanging knowledge and learning with other companies to
expand the reach and impact of effective workplace-wellness programs.
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Our support of the NCD Alliance, specifically a grant funding the organization’s
preparatory work for the United Nations High-Level Meeting on NCDs, helped
drive a U.N. General Assembly Political Declaration to “address the prevention
and control of noncommunicable diseases worldwide, with a particular focus on
developmental and other challenges and social and economic impacts,
particularly for developing countries.”
What were the outcomes for the business and society, and how were they measured?
• Medtronic continues to drive local action to address NCDs through our support of the NCD
Alliance and our participation in activities related to the U.N. High-Level Meeting. For
example, a recent Medtronic Foundation grant to Partners In Health is supporting its work
with the Rwandan Ministry of Health to assist low-income countries in preparing national
NCD plans by 2013. This is in direct response to the outcomes document from the U.N.
High-Level Meeting on NCDs, which calls for countries to “promote, establish, or support
and strengthen…, as appropriate, multisector national policies and plans for the prevention
and control of noncommunicable diseases.”
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Medtronic Foundation grants support the work of nonprofit partners to strengthen health
systems. One example is another grant to Partners In Health, which supported the creation
of a model for integrating treatment and management of NCDs into the primary care system
in some of the world’s poorest rural communities in Rwanda. The approach, which is
flexible, cost-effective, and should prove replicable in other developing nations, is detailed
in a free guidebook written for local health-care providers and policymakers.
On the business side, Medtronic also strengthens health systems by promoting patient
education and health literacy to improve awareness, expanding physician medical
education to increase treatment availability, extending product donations to underserved
areas, and piloting a skilled volunteerism program to provide additional solutions on the
ground in developing countries.
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Medtronic engineers are being asked to solve problems related to the treatment of chronic
and noncommunicable diseases. In addition, the company is focused on increasing access to
affordable, appropriate therapy by utilizing local R&D and increasing external
collaborations—with special focus in emerging markets—to drive timely product
innovation and adaptation of technology to local cultures with the right economics. In
addition, the Medtronic Foundation supports innovation through grants to NGOs working
to develop early diagnostic tools for emerging markets.
We measure the success of our foundation’s efforts by the number of national NCD plans
created by 2013 and the inclusion of NCDs in the U.N. 2015 Millennium Development
Goals. We measure the success of efforts by Medtronic, Inc. by the steady progress toward
our goal of treating 25 million patients per year by 2020.
What advice would you give a grantmaker faced with a similar opportunity?
• Establish a cross-functional team to co-lead the initiative or program.
• Create a clearly defined strategy to engage all relevant parties.
• Leverage events that convene key stakeholders involved in the issue.
• Develop and execute a strong communications plan (we found social media especially
effective for authentic engagement with our key stakeholders).
Tools and Samples
www.medtronic.com/ncd