Today, marks the final 100 days of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which have been a remarkably successful initiative in focusing global attention on some of the world’s most intractable challenges. Resources have been increased and efforts coordinated in a way that has transformed hundreds of millions of lives.

The MDGs proved that when the global community mobilizes around common priorities, we can make progress. Setting ambitious targets help us to achieve beyond what we originally thought possible. Under the MDGs, for example, malaria deaths have halved since 2000 and a rapid increase in those receiving antiretroviral therapy has seen new HIV infection rates fall by 40 percent between 2000 and 2013.

This week, the world once again comes together to embark on the next set of global goals, the Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to end extreme poverty, tackle climate change and address the chronic inequalities to access to health care among others over the next 15 years.

However, much of the global burden of non-communicable diseases falls on the poorest populations, with people contracting them earlier and with worse outcomes.

As we look toward 2030, we must understand that healthcare challenges in low- and middle-income countries are actually growing. There is still work to be done to improve and advance management of infectious disease and maternal and child health. At the same time, these countries also face the rising tide of non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer and heart disease.

We are well aware of the threat that these conditions pose to richer, more developed countries. However, much of the global burden of non-communicable diseases falls on the poorest populations, with people contracting them earlier and with worse outcomes. Identifying, treating and preventing these conditions will add to the complexity faced by these countries in improving the health of their citizens as they are still  continuing to work on maternal and child health care and infectious diseases. The problem is compounded by the low levels of funding. At present, although non-communicable diseases now make up more than half of deaths and disabilities in low-and middle-income countries, yet only 4.6% of development assistance for health was allocated toward all these types of deadly diseases in 2013.

Addressing the dual burden of disease will be important as we move forward with the next set of global goals, and is an area where public-private partnerships can make a real impact.

Addressing the dual burden of disease will be important as we move forward with the next set of global goals, and is an area where public-private partnerships can make a real impact.

The Novartis Foundation is actively working to address the disparity between infectious and non-communicable diseases while leveraging private-sector assets. With a focus on the growing epidemic of hypertension, a major risk factor for heart disease, the Foundation is implementing programs to mitigate the increased pressure on healthcare in low-and middle-income countries.

In Ghana, we have partnered with FHI 360, the Ghana Health Service, The London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the School of Public Health in Ghana to see how hypertension can be tackled better. It involves moving healthcare delivery to the community, increasing awareness and detection of the condition, empowering individual patients in self-management and strengthening care for the secondary conditions.

The results of the program will be important for improving management of hypertension in Ghana, of course. However, we do not want to continue to create vertical approaches. Rather, we are focusing on a specific disease at the onset in order to build evidence on what type of delivery models are effective to then take those lessons to address the dual burden of infectious disease and non-communicable diseases that low-and-middle-income-countries are now facing.

Philanthropic organisations and the private sector have a special responsibility in the global health community –

Philanthropic organisations and the private sector have a special responsibility in the global health community as we are in a position to take on some of the risk associated with developing and implementing pioneering models of healthcare, as well as using our global reach to share the evidence and spread best practice.

As we move forward from the launch of the next set of global goals, we in the private sector and philanthropic communities need to keep the following central to our work ahead:

• Help to drive a rebalancing of funding towards health needs, especially for non-communicable diseases
• Build partnerships across the private and public sectors with a clear vision of scale and sustainability from the outset
• Co-create programs with the local health services and local healthcare communities in the countries where we are working, especially when incorporating technology and digital health tools
• Share lessons learned  the good, the bad, the ugly of all our work as we need to build upon each other towards these new goals

The MDGs showed us that partnerships are key to delivering results. Together, we can go farther and faster. Let us be bold and achieve beyond what we thought possible.