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Help us understand UNDP’s vision, mission, and key activities.

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is an organization within the United Nations (UN), responsible for development. The UN itself was founded after World War II to promote international co-operation and to create and maintain international order. When many additional—particularly throughout Africa—joined the UN in the 1960s, development was recognized as a paramount priority. UNDP was established in 1966 to support the governance of new independent nations that were founded in Africa and other regions.

Since that time, UNDP has been advocating for human security, as well as supporting the achievement of the “Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)” adopted in 2000. Today, we are aiming to achieve the “Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted in 2015 at the UN General Assembly and represent the most ambitious effort on development in world history. UNDP is helping integrate diverse efforts internationally, such as on health, energy, work and climate—so that we’re advancing development on all fronts by 2030.

In what ways is UNDP engaged in the field of health?

One of the major pillars of current UNDP health initiatives is HIV. We support people living with HIV who face stigma and discrimination. In addition, we promote effective and inclusive governance for health. Furthermore, we support building resilient and sustainable systems for health. For instance, during the Ebola outbreak, the infection quickly spread in countries such as Sierra Leone, Guinea, and Liberia, causing untold economic damage. We worked closely with the affected countries by establishing a system for properly paying the 50,000 workers who were taking measures against the Ebola outbreak.

Furthermore, UNDP functions as a Global Fund grant interim Principal Recipient supporting the delivery of HIV, TB and malaria programs in 29 nations. We also train local NGOs that support the public health systems in developing nations.

What are the most significant challenges the development community faces in overall efforts to increase and improve access to health tools and care?

The two biggest challenges are devastating diseases that predominantly affect poor populations, and a lack of tools and capacities to prevent, diagnose, and treat them. Diseases such as malaria, TB, and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) exert significant health burden on both the individual and the health system, and are difficult to treat. Many existing drugs, medical equipment, and vaccinations are losing their effectiveness due to increasing disease resistance. Unfortunately, there is little incentive for pharmaceutical companies to invest in the development of health technologies for these diseases. Moreover, in low- and middle-income countries, even if a new medical technology is developed and made available, the government may not have sufficient capacity or experience to ensure that needed health tools are introduced and effectively delivered to their populations. In such countries, organizing and establishing enabling policies and regulatory frameworks, adequate human resources, and basic infrastructures are needed.

What kind of synergy can we expect from the collaboration between UNDP and GHIT?

The disease areas that benefit most directly from the collaboration between UNDP and GHIT are TB, malaria, and NTDs. There are currently 9.6 million TB patients in the world ; 1.5 million TB patients died in 2014 because they did not have access to appropriate drugs and medical care. As for malaria, 3.3 billion people are living in endemic regions; it is the leading cause of death in children under five years old in sub-Saharan Africa. Regarding NTDs, 1.7 billion people are at risk of at least one NTD. In order to fight these infectious diseases, GHIT’s work in developing drugs, vaccines and diagnostics, utilizing Japan’s highly advanced pharmaceutical capabilities and technologies, is extremely important.

In recent years, cross-border human travel has exponentially increased, and the frequency of contact between humans and animals has also increased. As a result, there is a possibility of a rapid spread of new infectious diseases like Zika or Ebola across many countries. Japan is a major leader in technology innovation and Japanese leadership in the automobile and IT industries is globally recognized. However, Japanese leadership is less recognized in drug development. We believe that making Japan’s advanced health technologies available to the world will make a significant impact on global health and human security. Unfortunately, the public health systems of low- and middle-income countries are still weak, and uptake of new technologies, however useful, is not always straightforward or immediate. For this reason, UNDP is helping to lay the groundwork for country adoption and integration of critically-needed new drugs, vaccines and diagnostics like those being developed by GHIT. To achieve this, UNDP supports health system strengthening. In other words, we are clearing the path to promote effective introduction and scale-up of the new health technologies that are emerging from GHIT’s pipeline.

How will UNDP, GHIT, and other stakeholders collaborate to further increase and improve access to medical care over the next 5 to 10 years?

SDG 3 relates to “good health and well-being,” which is inextricably linked to global public health. Universal health coverage across the globe would make a major impact in our ability to achieve this goal. We believe that pursuing activities at the nexus of where health and development meet is the most compelling challenge of our time.

UNDP is well aware of the critical roles that private companies play in efforts to achieve the SDGs. There are many companies that are contributing to the SDGs through philanthropy or charity, but it is also very important for companies to recognize that achieving the SDGs also reinforces their bottom lines. In that sense, much is expected from GHIT, which is a successful model of a public–private partnership, to achieve even larger successes.

It will become important to continue reinforcing each country’s capacity to adopt and deliver the new pharmaceutical products that the GHIT supports, in corporation with various partners, to ensure they reach patients safely, efficiently, and at affordable prices.

Mr. Kondo, you have experienced working with a variety of partners in national, regional, and international What do you see as the critical ingredients of a successful partnerships?

Ultimately, the end goals of the government and the UN are quite similar: to bring smiles back to the faces of people waiting for support by the international community. I believe that a good partnership thrives when decision-makers in government, companies, universities, and media, as well as the general public, remember that global health and international cooperation ultimately supports individuals in local communities.

The affiliations and positions listed in this interview are at the time of publication of the interview in 2017.