Parts of Cameroon have rates of epilepsy that are among the highest in the world. Despite the availability of effective therapies, poverty, a lack of medical resources and superstition about the causes of epilepsy often lead to inadequate treatment and social exclusion for people living with the neurological condition. Novartis is working with a Catholic mission on the ground in a central part of the country to overcome these barriers and improve care.

Photos: Bjoern Myhre, Novartis

Shanelle Gabriel was diagnosed with lupus — a chronic autoimmune disease that mostly affects women of African American and Hispanic descent — while she was at college. Today, as a singer, poet and advocate, she uses her voice to highlight challenges faced by people living with this complex and often misunderstood condition.

Photos: Brent Stirton, Getty Images for Novartis

When Laurie Brunner found a lump in her breast just before Thanksgiving in 2018, it was the beginning of one of the most difficult periods of her life. Although treatment put her cancer into remission, she found herself dealing with an emotional toll that affects many survivors of early-stage breast cancer: the fear of it coming back.

Photos: Brent Stirton, Getty Images for Novartis

Novartis is aiming for water neutrality in our own operations by 2030. In India, we are contributing to this goal through a project near Hyderabad with a nonprofit organization. By tackling both water scarcity and the deprivation it causes, the project has revived the community.

Photos: Bjoern Myhre, Novartis