How do we tackle non-communicable diseases among young people?
While many advances have been made to improve the health and well-being of vulnerable groups worldwide, there is still a great distance that we must go to meet the targets laid out in SDG 3. This goal includes indicators for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health; infectious diseases; non-communicable diseases and mental health and health systems and funding. Specific to SDG 3, we have focused our Lead2030 Challenge on SDG 3.4: to reduce by one-third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) through prevention and treatment and to promote mental health and well-being.
NCDs have emerged to become the number one cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, killing more than 41 million people each year. While they disproportionately impact people living in vulnerable or compromised situations, they are an issue for people everywhere. Young people are most at risk, and they are also the point of great opportunity to change the trajectory of disease. Yet young people are seldom on the global health agenda. 70% of premature deaths from NCDs can be linked to behaviours and habits that form in adolescence. Prevention becomes a critical tool to fight the burden of NCDs. Through our Young Health Programme we invest in education, advocacy and research to address the primary risk factors that lead to NCDs in later life.
Our Lead2030 Challenge is looking for health promotion ideas and projects to reduce risk behaviours in young people, such as smoking tobacco, misuse of alcohol, the impact of air pollution, lack of physical exercise and poor diet. We want to support early innovation and will look in particular for projects that explore challenges and opportunities, generate ideas, develop and test ideas or make a business case. Through this project, we aim to generate case studies and other evidence of promising approaches and to uncover opportunities for future collaboration and investment.
We are looking for youth-led projects that are designed to be sustainable. Priority will be given to projects that are multi-sectoral and engage the public sector. Projects cannot incorporate treatment or medicine and must focus on prevention.
Note on eligibility:
This Lead2030 Challenge will be supported by AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme. To be eligible for this grant, the funding must be payable to a registered non-profit organisation that is accountable for delivering the project.
Projects cannot incorporate treatment of medical conditions or the promotion or prescription of medicines but should instead focus on the promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviours and the prevention of disease.
AstraZeneca's YHP also supports the YHP Impact Fellowship with One Young World tackling non-communicable diseases among young people. Individuals can apply for both opportunities but may only be selected for one.
Challenge criteria
Aligned: Evidently aligned with the challenge. See ‘About’.
Youth-led: Founded and led by a person aged 18 – 30.
Focused: Well-structured time horizon, identified key stakeholders and beneficiaries, and proposed outcomes that are reasonable and well thought out.
Market ready: Product/service already in market or ready to go to market.
Impactful: Solutions must have a positive social impact, creating legislative change or measuring behaviour change.
Measurable: Impacts of solutions must have been adequately measured and/or be measurable.
Financially viable: Must be able to achieve efficiency and to survive independently through the resources they generate and/or the investments and donations they attract.
Scalable: Potential to perform as well or better after expanding in scope or size and/or being transported to other regions.
Additional Criteria:
This Lead2030 Challenge will be supported by AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme. To be eligible for this grant, the funding must be payable to a registered non-profit organisation that is accountable for delivering the project.
Projects cannot incorporate treatment of medical conditions or the promotion or prescription of medicines but should instead focus on the promotion of healthy lifestyle behaviours and the prevention of disease.
The project must be delivered by a registered non-profit organisation which is able to pass due diligence and verification checks. This will include documentation to ensure the projects meet legal requirements on international charitable donations. You must complete this stage before the grant payment is made. Documents may include a copy of your organisation’s governing document (eg articles of incorporation), a certificate of charitable registration in your country, most recent annual financial accounts, a bank statement from the last 3 months as proof of your organisation’s bank account, and details of your Trustees/Directors’ full names, residential addresses and dates of birth.
Prize
The winning solution will receive:
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A US$50,000 grant from AstraZeneca Young Health Programme
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12 months of mentorship from a team of AstraZeneca Young Health Programme professionals. The mentorship team will work to accelerate your solution based on the needs of your initiative or organisation, such as:
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Business strategy
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Best practices for data collection
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Monitoring and evaluation
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Product design
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Participation in the One Young World Summit 2023 in Belfast. Flights and accomodation included.
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The opportunity to join AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme (YHP) Alumni Group. The YHP Alumni Group offers learning and development opportunities and networking between Grantees as well as young leaders who have received YHP Scholarships. In the past, Alumni Members have been offered mini-MBA programmes, opportunities to share their work with global audiences, and masterclasses on fundraising and digital skills to build effective health-promotion programmes.
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Visibility and promotion by AstraZeneca’s Young Health Programme and the One Young World team
Timeline
- 10 March 2023: Applications close.
- 17 March 2023: Shortlisted candidates confirmed and invited to submit second round application.
- 31 March 2023: Second round application deadline.
- 24 April - 8 May 2023: Candidate interviews.
- 10 May 2023: Challenge Winner confirmed.