Novartis Foundation

The Novartis Foundation (formerly known as the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development) is a non-profit organization and part of the corporate responsibility portfolio of Novartis. Its place of residence is in Basel, Switzerland. The foundation is a competence center for international health cooperation. The foundation initiates and conducts projects to improve health, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa and in south-east Asia.

The Novartis Foundation has been one of the leading organizations in the private sector for international development for the last 35 years. The humanitarian engagement of the Novartis Foundation goes back to the 1960s, when the Basel-based companies Ciba, Geigy, Sandoz, Durand & Huguenin, Hoffmann-La Roche and Lonza founded the Basel Foundation for Developing Countries. The Basel Foundation, for example, supported the field laboratory of the Swiss Tropical Institute (now known as the Ifakara Health Institute) located in Ifakara, which still works closely with the Novartis Foundation.

Today, the Novartis Foundation focuses its work on the fight against leprosy and malaria, as well as on access to healthcare projects. The foundation acts as facilitator between the private sector, the state and civil society.

The Novartis Foundation supports development projects in the areas of access to healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa and on the Indian subcontinent. The aim is to improve access to primary healthcare and medicines as well as to strengthen the local healthcare systems.