HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT
Axios International's th 25 Anniversary Axios International completes 25 years of operation in 2022. What has been the key inspiration / vision that has helped the company grow? The building of Axios International1 is very strongly connected with my experience of working with WHO, as part of the UNAIDS Drug Access Initiative. As a part of this initiative, I was in-charge of negotiating with pharmaceutical companies to launch one of the first antiretroviral (ARV) access programs in some of the emerging economies of the world which helped address the rising incidence of AIDS. Once these programs were successful, I realised that access would not be limited to just HIV treatment but in fact, should be used to address several unmet needs of people across different diseases. And with that vision, we founded Axios International in 1997. And ever since, our vision has remained the same – to enhance healthcare access for people across the world. How has Axios International impacted the lives of patients over the last 25 years? What has been the company's global and, more specifically, Asian footprint till now? At a global level, Axios International has reached more than 9 million patients over 100 countries in the last 25 years. In the early days, we were only focused on supporting poor patients with access to healthcare, but we gradually realised that there is a large segment of middle-class people who are neither rich enough to buy medication nor poor enough to get donation. Over the years, we've tried to address the needs of this segment through innovative tools and personalised cost sharing programs. We strongly believe that simple price reduction or rebates are not the route to build healthcare access, and companies need to consider the entire treatment cycle, and constantly follow up with patients to ensure that they stay on treatment and benefit from optimum health outcomes. 1 https://axiosint.com/
In Asia, ageing populations and high healthcare needs demand that healthcare stakeholders work with each other so that their combined strengths can effectively address the diverse needs of people. Axios has always believed in multi-sectoral collaborations, and we look forward to working with Asian governments and other stakeholders to support people in
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A SI A N H O S P I T A L & H EA LT HCAR HCA R E M A N AGE M E N T
IS S UE - 55, 56, 2022
JOSEPH SABA CEO, Axios International
