Novo Nordisk Foundation enters into strategic framework agreement with the World Health Organization (WHO) to advance global health

COPENHAGEN, Denmark, May 21, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- With the agreement, the Foundation expands its existing collaboration with WHO, committing to a granting frame of up to DKK 380 million over the next four years.

At the 78th World Health Assembly in Geneva, the Novo Nordisk Foundation has pledged up to DKK 380 million to the WHO for the period 2025-2028.

The Foundation and WHO are deepening the partnership, adopting a more strategic approach through the signature of a framework agreement that will enable the two organisations to accelerate progress by working together.

This includes opportunities to collaborate on the promotion, provision and protection of health, addressing the growing burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) with emphasis on cardiometabolic diseases; critical gaps in the health workforce; inequity in access to quality NCD services as well as antimicrobial resistance.

For several years, the Foundation and WHO have supported WHO's emergency health response operations, in additional to supporting WHO's work on NCDs in emergencies. The strategic framework agreement for the coming four years is an expansion of this engagement.

"We are thrilled to enter into this agreement with WHO, which will strengthen our partnership and serve our common mission of advancing global health," says Professor Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen, CEO of the Novo Nordisk Foundation.

WHO as a key partner
The Novo Nordisk Foundation sees WHO as a key partner when it comes to realising the Foundation's vision of improving human and planetary health.

"WHO plays a unique role in the global health ecosystem, providing normative guidance, monitoring diseases, building country capacity for resilient health systems and supporting learning and evidence," says Mads Krogsgaard Thomsen.

About the Novo Nordisk Foundation
Established in Denmark in 1924, the Novo Nordisk Foundation is an enterprise foundation with philanthropic objectives. The vision of the Foundation is to improve people's health and the sustainability of society and the planet. The Foundation's mission is to progress research and innovation in the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic and infectious diseases as well as to advance knowledge and solutions to support a green transformation of society.