Asha workers Sonali D Gaikwad and Sujata D Gaikwad walk through the Ajanta Nagar slum in Pimpri to mobilise parents and children for vaccination as part of IMI 4.0.

Lilly Foundation: Bolstering a Country-Led Approach to Addressing Childhood Non-Communicable Diseases in Resource-Limited Settings

Supporter since 2024

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In September 2024, Eli Lilly and Company Foundation (Lilly Foundation) announced charitable support for the United States Fund for UNICEF (UNICEF USA) to combat non-communicable diseases in resource-limited settings in low and middle-income countries, including through UNICEF USA’s efforts related to support of the Health4Life Fund (H4LF). 

The Health4Life Fund (the UN Multi-Partner Trust to Catalyze Country Action for Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health) galvanizes domestic financing to scale up country action for the prevention and control of NCDs and for improving mental health. The Fund supports governments, the UN development system and other partners to work together towards common NCD and mental health results, in a way that responds to the global, regional and country level commitments on NCDs and mental health.

In Spring 2025, the Lilly Foundation awarded an additional charitable grant to support UNICEF USA, which it uses to provide support for UNICEF’s work to reduce morbidity and mortality by strengthening Maternal Newborn Child Adolescent Health (MNCAH) initiatives and integrating NCD prevention into MNCAH programs in resource-limited settings in Rwanda and Sierra Leone through 2027. This new grant, although separate from the #Health4Life initiative, builds on the work UNICEF and their partners are doing to strengthen NCD prevention, detection and treatment in low- and middle-income countries.

This UNICEF initiative works to minimize the harm of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) for millions of children, families and communities in resource-limited communities in low- and middle-income countries. The funds will support this initiative to better prevent, detect and treat NCDs through a unique funding mechanism that encourages a country-led approach to action.

“This Lilly Foundation grant to the UNICEF USA builds on our support of organizations that address social determinants of health”, said Cynthia Cardona, President of the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation (Lilly Foundation). “Multisectoral actions allow stakeholders around the world to contribute to improving access to care for everyone who needs it. We are proud to support UNICEF USA in this innovative initiative tackling non-communicable diseases in resources-limited communities in low-and middle-income countries.”

Lilly Foundation is a separate tax-exempt, private foundation established in 1968 and supported by donations from Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly Foundation supports philanthropic programs across health, education, and other philanthropic priorities.

The Global Toll of NCDs

NCDs in children and adolescents include asthma, cancer, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease and chronic respiratory diseases. Globally, NCDs affect more than 2.1 billion children and adolescents under age 20. Tragically, roughly 1 million people under age 20 die from treatable NCDs each year.

The risks of developing NCDs may begin as early as pregnancy and can be exacerbated in childhood and adolescence by behaviors like poor diet, excessive alcohol consumption, tobacco use and inadequate physical activity.

Once developed, an NCD can require long-term or lifelong care — often unavailable or unaffordable in low-and middle-income countries. To curb the global rise of NCDs, women and children living in these countries need increased health interventions before, during and after pregnancy and throughout childhood and adolescence, requiring a significant public and private sector response. 

Catalyzing Country-led Action to Better Prevent, Detect and Treat NCDs

HFLF is unique for being the only UN-wide Trust Fund devoted to NCDs and even more remarkable for providing needs-driven seed funding and technical support based on country demand. In disbursing grants, H4LF considers the specific pain points, resources and capacity of each requesting country. Countries must prioritize their needs and present a multi-sector response that draws on coordinated action across multiple stakeholders, including government agencies, NGOs, relevant private sector entities and civil society.

By helping countries develop and scale their NCD responses according to their unique demands and needs, H4LF funding contributes to overall capacity-building and health system strengthening at the local and national levels. UNICEF USA, and H4LF, a unique United Nations multi-partner trust fund, are committed to advancing equitable health outcomes in communities all over the world. 

Advancing Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (MNCAH)

UNICEF focuses on three critical areas to advance MNCAH: reducing maternal, newborn and child mortality. Currently, 60 countries – primarily in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia—are off track to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) targets for reducing under-five mortality and 65 countries are off track for reaching newborn mortality targets. Rapid acceleration is urgently needed.  

In 2022:

  • Over 400,000 child deaths were attributed to the childhood onset of severe NCDs such as Sickle Cell Disease, Rheumatic Heart Disease, pediatric cancers, and Type 1 Diabetes (T1D).
  • Of the 4.8 million deaths in children, 2.3 million occurred within the first month of life.
  • An additional 1.9 million stillbirths, 900,000 adolescent deaths, and 287,000 maternal deaths were recorded.

Nearly half of all under-five deaths occurred in fragile or conflict affected settings. UNICEF and partners will bolster MNCAH programming in resource-limited settings in Rwanda and Sierra Leone by:

  • Amplifying UNICEF’s leadership and technical capacity for MNCAH and advancing the integration of NCDs at the global and regional levels
  • Advancing the integration of NCDs and strengthening life course programming for maternal, newborn (especially care for babies born too soon or too small), child, and adolescent health and development through PHC in selected countries
  • Strengthening health systems to sustainably deliver essential MNCAH services, including NCDs, and ensuring they reach all children
  • Monitoring progress, collating and disseminating learnings and best practices for life course programming and NCD integration

UNICEF USA will be able to provide critical help to UNICEF as it sustains essential programming, strengthens health systems and drives lasting improvements in MNCAH services, including NCDs.