Sep 24, 2018

Philips partners with UNFPA to improve the health of women and girls in underserved regions

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On Friday September 21, 2018, Philips signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to jointly develop programs aimed at improving the lives of 50 million women and girls by 2025 in countries where health challenges are most acute. Philips’ focus in the programs will be on enabling healthy pregnancies, safe deliveries and quality newborn care through integrated health services, in line with the United Nations resolution on universal health coverage (UHC).

“I am extremely proud of this new partnership, which reinforces Philips’ commitment to improve the lives of 300 million people in underserved areas of the world by 2025,” said Henk Siebren de Jong, Chief of International Markets at Royal Philips. “At Philips we recognize the power of co-creation, the potential of digital technologies, and the need for innovative partnerships to increase access to quality healthcare, enable effective service delivery and improve health outcomes for all.”

If there are millions and millions of women and girls who need services, and if technology can really catapult those services to scale – we want to be there with you.

Dr. Natalia Kanem

UNFPA Executive Director

“We see huge potential in this thought partnership for innovation,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem during the signing ceremony. “If there are millions and millions of women and girls who need services, and if technology can really catapult those services to scale – we want to be there with you,” she added, addressing Philips.

“The private sector interacts with billions of people around the world. For them, this interaction is normal,” noted Dr. Kanem. “And we’d like to make this interaction more normal for UNFPA as well. The standard that Philips represents is the best in class, and that has given us a lot of excitement and assurance that this partnership is the right one.”

As a first step in the cooperation, Philips intends to implement a large-scale program in the Republic of Congo, aimed at improving the delivery of maternal and newborn healthcare at all levels. Developed in close collaboration with the Republic of Congo’s Ministry of Health and all relevant stakeholders, the innovative program aims to ensure that consistently high quality care is available to all mothers and babies throughout the country and that no one is left behind.