Health Equity Starts with Pharma Thought Leaders
Health equity has become a global healthcare challenge. Even with recent guidelines on clinical trial diversity from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) and industry organizations calling on Medical Affairs teams to help address health equity, it persists as a large industry problem to solve and answer questions on where to begin and who owns ultimate responsibility.
The answer is: everyone. But health equity has to start with the industry’s most influential opinion leaders to provide a more inclusive voice, often called key opinion leaders (KOLs) and to ensure health equity stays top of mind in every phase of the drug lifecycle and healthcare ecosystem.
Driving Health Equity through Communication
Continued research challenges for diverse patients include limited patient access to trials, study drugs, academic centers and diverse healthcare professionals (HCPs) – further leading to underrepresentation across pharma, bio-tech and healthcare.
Achievement of diversity, equity and inclusion requires transparent conversations among thought leaders across all sectors involved, from the start of trial processes to bringing the drug to market.