Co-author: Bhawani Maurya
4 minutes read
Asia faces an unprecedented healthcare crisis. Despite global efforts, progress on SDG 3 (Health and Well-being) remains alarmingly low, with only 14.4%[1] of targets achieved. This translates to a staggering reality; 1.6 billion people[2] lack adequate health coverage and the region faces a USD 274 billion annual investment shortfall[3]. These challenges are further compounded by climate change impacts on public health and persistent gender disparities, with women experiencing poorer health for 25% longer than men.
Our Approach: A Focus on Impact
Recognising this critical need, AVPN, Asia’s largest network of social investors, is committed to addressing these pressing healthcare challenges through its comprehensive Health Impact Platform. The platform aims to accelerate the transformation toward resilient and effective health systems by harnessing Asian leadership and strategically mobilising capital.
The platform is built around three core principles:
The platform’s strategic priorities include enhancing access to essential medicines, optimising health financing, systems strengthening, and improving service delivery, with a focus on addressing the intersectionality of climate and gender on health outcomes.
Healthcare Impact Journey : Recent Milestones
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Advancing Access to Medicines in South and Southeast Asia: AVPN and Takeda’s Collaborative Initiative
AVPN and Takeda’s are combating vector-borne and infectious diseases in South/Southeast Asia through multi-stakeholder collaboration, focusing on overcoming healthcare access barriers and climate-related distribution challenges, particularly for diseases like dengue. |
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Advancing Cervical Cancer Prevention with MSD and NUS
AVPN has formed a strategic partnership with Merck Sharp & Dohme, National University of SIngapore, Asia Pacific Immunization Coalition, and The Voices Project Asia to address cervical cancer’s disproportionate impact on female foreign domestic workers from the Philippines and Indonesia. The initiative will develop a comprehensive policy framework to enhance prevention, screening, and care services by improving healthcare access. |
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Climate x Health: Lighthouse for Asia
AVPN and Bayer Foundation’s Climate X Health initiative will close the financing gap between climate change and public health through a dedicated USD 5 million fund for Asia. The initiative empowers innovators to scale climate-health solutions while raising awareness and accelerating transformational actions across the region. |
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Mobilising Capital Towards Nutrition in Asia
AVPN is mobilising philanthropic capital through strategic donor engagement and collaborative learning to build a network focused on combating maternal and child malnutrition, addressing the region’s critical funding gap despite economic growth. |
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Innovative Financing Landscape for Infectious Diseases R&D in South Asia and Southeast Asia
AVPN and Wellcome Trust are pioneering innovative financing solutions like blended finance and social impact bonds to bridge funding gaps in infectious disease R&D across South/Southeast Asia, focusing on transitioning late-stage research to market while strengthening the region’s R&D ecosystem. |
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Urban Health Systems Strengthening: Building Multistakeholder Coalitions between Philanthropists and Local Governments
AVPN with The Challenge Initiative will strengthen regional health systems by scaling effective solutions in family planning, reproductive health, and maternal care through resource mobilisation and stakeholder engagement, focused on improving women and girls’ health outcomes across Asia. |
Financing Healthcare: Bridging the Gap
Through its recent initiatives, AVPN has taken meaningful steps to combat challenges in healthcare by mobilising resources, fostering partnerships, and addressing systemic barriers in healthcare delivery. However, healthcare systems in Asia face persistent financing challenges, with significant gaps hindering efforts to provide equitable access and address pressing health priorities.
Blended finance has emerged as a powerful tool for addressing healthcare funding gaps in Asia by enabling organisations with diverse objectives to invest together while achieving their individual goals. However, across Asia healthcare remains an underfunded sector in blended finance, accounting for only 6% of transactions in South Asia[4] compared to the energy sector’s 28%. While energy and infrastructure projects have historically dominated the landscape, with ASEAN countries directing 41%[5] of transactions towards energy, healthcare has significant potential to leverage blended finance.
Some key blended finance mechanisms have proven particularly effective in healthcare are;
Strengthening Healthcare Systems: The Way Forward
Recent AVPN convenings, such as the South Asia Summit 2024 and the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Convening, highlighted critical needs for systemic reforms and innovative financing in healthcare. Key takeaways include the importance of
Key priorities that emerged through these convenings to build resilient healthcare systems in Asia, are as follows;
- Strengthening Community-based Healthcare Models: Empower communities by integrating grassroots initiatives and leveraging digital tools like Population Health Registries to improve access and outcomes.
- Scaling Innovative Financing Mechanisms: Expand blended finance solutions, catalytic capital, and public-private partnerships to address funding gaps and support health innovation.
- Advancing Equity in Healthcare: Ensure healthcare strategies are inclusive, gender-responsive, and focused on reducing disparities across geography, income levels, and social determinants.
- Enhancing Data-Driven Decision-Making: Invest in centralised platforms for real-time data access and health equity metrics to drive accountability and transparency in healthcare investments.
AVPN is at the forefront of catalysing transformative change in healthcare systems across Asia. We invite stakeholders from all sectors to collaborate with us in advancing sustainable, equitable, and innovative healthcare solutions. Whether you are an investor, policymaker, or health expert, your engagement can help unlock resources, scale impactful initiatives, and drive systemic change. Reach out to AVPN to join the movement and collectively shape a resilient and equitable healthcare future.
[1] https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/ESCAP_APPC7_INF_4.pdf
[2] https://www.unescap.org/sites/default/d8files/event-documents/ESCAP_APPC7_INF_4.pdf
[3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28728918/
