AstraZeneca

The Young Health Programme (YHP) - a partnership between AstraZeneca, Plan and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health - aims to help young people improve their lifelong health.

The YHP announced at the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) 2011 annual meeting a commitment to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in young people through integrated global research, advocacy, education and health skills training that will benefit a quarter of a million adolescents across 15 countries.    

NCDs, such as cardiovascular disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer, cause 36,000,000 deaths per year globally. Over half of these deaths are associated with lifestyle behaviours that begin or are reinforced during youth - such as tobacco use, physical activity, diet habits and sexual activity. However, young people’s health with regard to NCDs is often overlooked.  

Global reach

The broader YHP will reach 500,000 young people between the ages of 10 and 24 directly and will touch a further 500,000 lives indirectly by 2015.  

It is underway in 5 countries across 4 continents: India, Brazil, Canada, Sweden and the United Kingdom, and recently launched in Zambia. 

Read Plan UK Chief Executive Officer Marie Staunton’s recent Zambia visit report, via the Plan UK website.

Skills and knowledge to thrive

“The Young Health Programme is designed to connect adolescents most at risk of disease and early death with the skills and knowledge they need to thrive. Our project in Zambia will include training for peer and community staff as well as education and health services in the Chadiza District, reaching 50,000 people.  This is a great example of how the Young Health Programme is making a difference to change health behaviours and provide the training and education to improve young people’s lives now and for the future,” said Plan International’s Chief Executive Officer Nigel Chapman.

David Brennan, Chief Executive Officer of AstraZeneca, added: “At AstraZeneca, we believe we have a role beyond making medicines, it’s about making people healthier, and that’s why we established the Young Health Programme in collaboration with our expert partners. 

"The programme’s commitment to reducing NCDs in young people through early lifestyle intervention responds to the call for action at the recent United Nations high-level meeting on the prevention and control of NCDs by providing tangible solutions on the ground.”

Learn more via the YHP website*

For more information about Plan in your country please visit the where we work area

Please contact Fiona Knapman, Plan UK, for more information on this partnership.

*Plan is not responsible for the content on external websites.