Unitaid is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. For two decades, the organization has worked at the intersection of health innovation and large-scale impact, using catalytic investments, market shaping, and strategic partnerships to speed up access to lifesaving health products around the world.
Over these 20 years, Unitaid has helped bring more than 150 health innovations and products to scale, benefiting approximately 390 million people every year across more than 100 countries. Independent analysis commissioned by Unitaid found that every US$1 invested yields US$46 in return. From more affordable HIV treatment to new tools for hepatitis C and drug-resistant TB, Unitaid’s model of identifying promising innovations early and helping markets absorb them has changed what is possible in global health.
To mark the milestone, Unitaid has released a new anniversary report, From Innovation to Impact, reflecting on two decades of investment and the lessons learned along the way. The report is available at https://20years.unitaid.org/.
Ukraine is among the countries that have benefited from this work. With Unitaid’s support, the Alliance for Public Health is currently expanding access to long-acting injectable (depot) buprenorphine for opioid dependence treatment, as well as low-threshold hepatitis C testing and treatment programs designed for communities most affected by the epidemic — including people who inject drugs.
“Unitaid’s twenty years of work show what happens when bold scientific innovation is deliberately connected to the people who need it most,” said Andriy Klepikov, Executive Director of the Alliance for Public Health. “For us, this partnership is very concrete: thanks to Unitaid, we are introducing long-acting treatment options for opioid dependence and bringing hepatitis C testing and treatment closer to communities that are hardest to reach. These are real people being tested, treated, and kept in care — not just statistics. We are proud to mark this anniversary together with Unitaid and look forward to continuing this work.”
Alliance for Public Health values Unitaid as one of its key donors and partners, and continues to work closely with Unitaid to expand access to innovative health services for the communities most in need across Ukraine.