Healthcare is under a constant obligation to evolve. It must not only react to the emergence of new strains of infectious disease, but it must also account for societal transformations, scientific progress, and technological innovation. Each of these elements, which force healthcare systems to adapt, carries the potential of creating divisions–between the healthy and ill, between wealth and poverty, between analogue and digital, between us and them. Yet it is only through working together and bridging any pre-existing divides that unmet medical needs can be successfully met and a holistic approach can be applied for the well-being of people everywhere.

Acknowledging the value of co-operation for healthcare, is not, however, enough in itself. Co-operation should instead be woven into the fabric of the everyday–into the development of innovation that significantly improves patient experience, into the creation of comprehensive response strategies for outbreak preparedness, into researching the possibility of stopping disease in their tracks. The possibilities offered by a shared approach should serve as motivation for opening a dialogue on change, on coming together, on making a long-lasting impact that will harness the full potential of global business, technology, and society for the creation of a more accessible and sustainable healthcare environment.

At Johnson & Johnson, we’re committed to taking a giant leap forward: a leap today towards creating a world where we can all enjoy a healthy mind, body, and environment tomorrow. We have lived this commitment for the past 130 years with our employees, doctors, nurses, patients, and the families of those we serve, but now we want to broaden our scope even more and unite with partners to ignite new ideas for healthcare and society that will profoundly improve the course of human health in our communities and across the world.

To harness the full potential of global business, technology, and society for the creation of a more accessible and sustainable healthcare environment, we–industry, governments, advocates, patients–first need to look within ourselves. How do we work together? How collaborative are we? Do we make a genuine effort to bridge the real or imagined divides we encounter? If we fail to work together, to collaborate, to join together, we risk missing opportunities and extracting learnings from one another. In healthcare, for example, the collaborative approach that has arisen between traditional medical companies and technology giants has already provided innovations that were unimaginable even ten years ago as patient-specific pathways were just being rolled out and integrated healthcare models piloted.

It is through these collaborations that at Johnson & Johnson we believe we can create a world where illness is not just treated, but one in which diseases can be stopped in their tracks. From science fiction to reality, the work we can do together surpasses what is possible individually. This is why we look to galvanising partners and mobilising new forms of co-operation that will give hope and provide the tangible results we need to create a healthier future.

Whether through Our Credo or our 2030 Promise towards the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals, we are determined to not just talk about collaborative change and being a public health leader, but to make it a reality that we can all benefit from and be proud of. To this end, at J&J, we have made specific commitments in bringing good health to all. We recognise that these commitments must approach health holistically, covering disease-based research, awareness, and innovation. Yet they must also address the factors that make the places we live, work and play healthier. It means contributing to the development of a workforce that has the necessary competences to deliver high-quality results. It means investing in holistic solutions that tackle problems in our neighbourhoods, but also globally, in terms of eliminating obstacles to good health. It means enhancing the accessibility to basic needs that can save lives, prevent disability, promote economic growth, and reduce social marginalisation. And finally, it means giving everyone the hope and possibility of a better and healthier future.

Bringing these aspirations to an attainable reality is not a feat for the faint-hearted, but in collaborating with old partners and new relationships, we know that the light at the end of tunnel is a bright one. By 2030, we will work through an integrated and multi-sector approach to improve not just human health, but societal well-being.

When it’s all of us, together, we can make a world without disease a world that we all live in.

Visit www.jnj.com and www.janssen.com/emea

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Jane Griffiths   Company Group Chairman, Janssen, Europe, Middle East & Africa

© OECD Yearbook 2017