Health Equity Articles
Featured Articles
Read our latest stories on the people and scientific innovations making a difference in patients’ lives.
Purpose & Ideals
Global Health Fellows: Partnering to Strengthen Health Systems
Recently, Ellen Gerstein, Pfizer's Senior Director of Digital Communications, visited Africa as part of our Global Fellows Program. She shares her experience in this article.At Pfizer, we’re driven by our Purpose—to deliver breakthroughs that change patients’ lives. That Purpose has never been more clear to me than during my experience partnering with North Star Alliance through Global Health Fellows—Pfizer’s signature skills-based volunteering program.Since 2003, Global Health Fellows has...
Purpose & Ideals
An Accord for a Healthier World: Working Together to Help Address Unmet Healthcare Needs in Lower-Income Countries
Currently, regulatory agencies may take up to seven years to approve essential medicines and vaccines in low- and middle-income counties (LMICs) from the time those same treatments were first approved in high-income countries, if they are approved at all.1 The burden remains disproportionately higher in low-income countries.2 Lack of access to quality healthcare is related to healthcare inequities in LMICs and hinders equitable access to safe and effective treatments.2Those living in LMICs...
Programs & Initiatives
Pfizer's Multicultural Health Equity Collective Marks 10 Years of Progress
Marginalized communities in the United States have faced generations of health inequities due to systemic discrimination embedded into our healthcare system. Life expectancy in the U.S., for instance, masks significant racial and ethnic disparities – the average life expectancy for non-Hispanic American Indians or Alaska Natives is seven years lower than it is for non-Hispanic whites.1
Trusted Voices
Together We Can Change the Odds for People with Cancer
One in three people in the United States will receive a cancer diagnosis in their lifetime.i This means you, or someone you know, may someday be impacted. This disease does not discriminate. Unfortunately, many people face unnecessary barriers to timely and equitable screening, treatment and support. To help close these gaps, the American Cancer Society (ACS) and Pfizer recently launched a new three-year initiative, “Change the Odds: Uniting to Improve Cancer Outcomes,” aimed at addressing...
Trusted Voices
Bringing Together Diverse Organizations to Strive for Health Equity
As a Black woman who grew up living in subsidized housing in the U.S., I know what it means to live in a world where healthcare is not equal, and not trusted. Like so many others, I have family and friends along the health spectrum who have little interest in going to the doctor because they don’t feel seen or heard. This well-earned lack of trust has led some to decide against receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, among other healthcare services and interventions. I know firsthand the work that...
Real People
Equitable Access to Multiple Myeloma Treatments Can Help Close the Survival Gap
Jennifer Flowers thought her pain and fatigue were a side effect of working out. Perhaps she’d pushed herself too hard or strained a muscle. But the pain persisted, so she scheduled an appointment with her doctor. Her diagnosis—multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer—was unexpected. “I was stunned,” Flowers says. “I’m a health-conscious professional and was exercising multiple times a week.” Her first thought, Flowers says, was “How long do I have to live?” Medical Innovations Extend...
Purpose & Ideals
Equity in Advanced Prostate Cancer Care Begins with Changing the Conversation
Prostate health is not a popular topic of conversation. Even in healthcare settings, patients and providers might be hesitant to discuss prostate health or cancer screening. But talking openly is not only the key to destigmatizing an important topic, it’s one of the first steps in addressing global health inequities that impact those diagnosed with prostate cancer.“In the past 10 years, we have seen advances in the treatment of advanced prostate cancer (aPC), but some people are still being left...
Purpose & Ideals
How The Pfizer Foundation is Partnering to Improve Health Outcomes for Black Youth
A conversation with Dr. Clyde Glenn, President of the Essie B. & William Earl Glenn Foundation for Better Living In Sunflower County, Mississippi, one of the poorest counties in the nation, The Pfizer Foundation partners at The Glenn Family Foundation (GFF) are working to improve health and life outcomes by addressing the social determinants of health impacting this community. As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, social determinants of health are conditions in the...
Living & Wellbeing
Skipped Childhood Immunizations Could Lead to Resurgence of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases
Childhood vaccination rates dropped drastically during the COVID-19 pandemic, and it could potentially mean a resurgence of diseases we've long had under control. Approximately 66% of children aged 5 months in the United States were up to date for all CDC-recommended childhood vaccines in 2016-2019. By May 2020, that number declined to 49.7%. 1 A major driver of the downturn in vaccinations was canceled or skipped well-child visits. Shortly after the United States declared a national state of...
Purpose & Ideals
Pfizer’s Institute of Translational Equitable Medicine Addresses Equity in Health Research
When it comes to healthcare, the terms “equitable” and "access" often go hand-in-hand. In order to prevent, treat, and identify diseases that disproportionately impact underserved and minority populations, Pfizer believes that research must be directed to the root causes of healthcare disparities. The recently-launched Institute of Translational Equitable Medicine (ITEM) is intended to do just that: work toward a more equitable future of health care. For Aida Habtezion, M.D., who is Pfizer’s...
Purpose & Ideals
Pfizer's Commitment to Supplier Diversity
While it’s easy to recognize the economic and social benefits that suppliers and their communities receive by doing business with a global biopharmaceutical company such as Pfizer, the benefits are far more mutual than they may seem. Applying innovative perspectives gained from working with suppliers that bring diversity, Pfizer is better able to improve patient care through these connections to a more inclusive group of communities, thus improving health for all. One way Pfizer has worked to...
Living & Wellbeing
Why Raising Health Literate Children Is Important
Annlouise Assaf’s grandmother didn’t speak much English when she left Lebanon for the United States in the early 1900s. The language barrier forced Assaf and her siblings — who were just kids — to stand in as the chief interpreters during doctors’ appointments. As her grandma’s health hung in the balance, Assaf soon found herself juggling much more than two dialects. “The doctor would ask us all these questions,” recalls Assaf. “But first, we had to understand what the doctor was asking us.” T...
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