Viatris Signs Memorandum of Understanding with The Defeat NCD Partnership at the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR)

Reveals initial findings of the Viatris sponsored report at a high-level panel discussion

GENEVA and DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, May 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ: VTRS) and The Defeat-NCD Partnership (DNCD) at The United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), focused on continuing cooperation and jointly utilising and leveraging their existing resources and facilities for programmes and initiatives aimed at addressing non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and their impacts on NCD patients as a result of COVID-19. This by focusing on enhancing care policies for prevention and treatment, particularly in assisting low- and middle-income countries to meet their UN Sustainable Development goals (SDG 3.4), to reduce NCD mortality by a third by 2030.

"Collaboration with reputed private sector healthcare companies forms an integral part of the solution to address the challenges faced by NCD patients, especially in low resource settings. We welcome Viatris joining the Partnership's efforts and supporting our mission globally," said Mukul Bhola, Chief Executive Officer of The Defeat-NCD Partnership at UNITAR.

This collaboration was announced as part of high-level panel discussion organised by The Defeat-NCD Partnership on "Uninterrupted Health Services for NCDs during the COVID-19 Crisis" on the margins of the 74^th World Health Assembly, calling on governments to take action on ensuring uninterrupted NCD care during challenging times where political commitment is even more needed.

The latest research report, which was led by The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and co-authored by DNCD on the implications of NCD care policies on COVID-19 disease management, collating global data, shows positive correlation between NCD mortality rates and COVID-19 case fatalities. This was a study that Viatris was proud to support, while at the same time giving authors the autonomy they required.

Menassie Taddese, President of Emerging Markets at Viatris, who joined the event shared some light on the research and what it means for Viatris, "With 85 percent of NCD deaths taking place in the 125 countries within our Emerging Markets region, our scientists, medical professionals and regulatory experts are hard at work reaching vulnerable communities so that they have access to vital healthcare. Viatris is among the leading healthcare companies to which citizens look to for treatment of NCDs and we will continue to invest and to push policy towards NCD and COVID care."

Other insights from the report include:

• In spite of the global trend of diverting resources away from NCD care to COVID-19 mitigation, NCD mortality is the driver of COVID-19 case fatalities. NCDs were estimated to have contributed to 60 to 90 percent of COVID-19 deaths
• COVID-19 has exacerbated the progression of pre-existing NCDs in survivors, and has even caused new, complex NCD cases in previously healthy COVID-19 patients around the world
• Analysis of the increased burden on the already overstretched health systems in low- and middle-income countries, it was found that for every additional NCD death, there is an increase of 10.4 percent in COVID-19 deaths per 1,000 people
• Shortages of medicine, diagnostics and technologies are among the most common reasons for delayed, reduced or cancelled NCD treatments during this pandemic.

Menassie further commented: "The Memorandum of Understanding agreement with UNITAR for The Defeat-NCD Partnership, is an agreement that ensures our commitment to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal of reducing NCD mortality by a third by 2030, enabling all low-resource countries to scale up their action against NCDs."

About Viatris
Viatris Inc. (NASDAQ: VTRS) is a new kind of healthcare company, empowering people worldwide to live healthier at every stage of life. We provide access to medicines, advance sustainable operations, develop innovative solutions and leverage our collective expertise to connect more people to more products and services through our one-of-a-kind Global Healthcare Gateway^®. Formed in November 2020, Viatris brings together scientific, manufacturing and distribution expertise with proven regulatory, medical and commercial capabilities to deliver high-quality medicines to patients in more than 165 countries and territories. Viatris' portfolio comprises more than 1,400 approved molecules across a wide range of therapeutic areas, spanning both non-communicable and infectious diseases, including globally recognized brands, complex generic and branded medicines, a growing portfolio of biosimilars and a variety of over-the-counter consumer products. With a global workforce of approximately 45,000, Viatris is headquartered in the U.S., with global centers in Pittsburgh, Shanghai and Hyderabad, India. Learn more at viatris.com and investor.viatris.com, and connect with us on Twitter at @ViatrisInc, LinkedIn and YouTube. 

About The Defeat-NCD Partnership:
The Defeat-NCD Partnership is a practical response to the widespread call for action on non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Formally launched alongside the UN General Assembly in 2018, we are a 'public-private-people' partnership anchored in the United Nations but extending well beyond to include governments, multilateral agencies, civil society, academia, philanthropies, and the private sector.

Our vision is clear — universal health coverage for NCDs. To achieve this, our core mission focuses on assisting approximately 90 low-resource countries via comprehensive action across four interconnected service pillars: national NCD capacity building, community scale-up of NCD services, affordability and accessibility of essential NCD supplies, and sustainable NCD financing. Learn more at Defeat-NCD.org, and connect with us on Twitter at @DefeatNCD, LinkedIn and Facebook.