Sanofi employees Abiola, Anna and Leon in the UK, Brazil and Japan
As an innovative global healthcare company, we have a role to play in responding to the destabilizing situation underrepresented populations are in when they need care. We aim to help build the next generation of diverse healthcare leaders. By also working to build trust through conversation and dialogue between underrepresented communities and healthcare stakeholders, we can help improve engagement and health outcomes for all.
Paul Hudson
Sanofi CEO
Building bridges of trust
Over the next eight years, we’ll deploy our expertise and resources to support people to become ‘bridges of trust’. Thousands of diverse healthcare professionals, doctors, nurses, researchers and patients too who will be empowered to have the conversations we know are essential for lasting change. A Million Conversations will see Sanofi take three decisive actions to achieve this.
1. The next generation of healthcare professionals
We will launch a new global scholarship program for individuals from diverse communities to pursue a career in healthcare or related fields.
The Sanofi NextGen Scholarship will cover partial university fees, living costs and offer developmental support, mentorship, and internship opportunities. We’ll work in partnership with leading higher education institutions across the world to identify talented people who are keen to make a difference.
We are also partnering with Coursera to provide open access to its Career Academy to people from diverse and lower socioeconomic backgrounds.
Because we know that when given the proper support, people can play a powerful role in changing the landscape of healthcare for the better; improving representation to help drive a renewed sense of trust in homes around the world.
2. Listening and acting on what we hear
We will also run hundreds of dialogue events in the heart of local communities, where people can share their stories, experiences and ideas directly with the healthcare industry.
Whether they’re women, people from ethnic minorities, veterans, disabled people or those within the LGBTQ+ community - they deserve their stories to be heard and acted on.
3. From paying attention, to accelerating action
From these conversations we will produce research, data and policy recommendations that we intend to lead to real action on trust and health inequality.
We don't have all the answers, which is why we are building a coalition of non-profits, activists, businesses and governments to carry out research, share best practices and coordinate activities to achieve real and lasting change.
Because as the world lurches from one crisis to the next, and as industries and even governments around the world dial back on prior commitments to diversity, equity and inclusion, it’s only by working together that we can do more to ensure that gap is bridged.
Closing the trust gap
Healthcare that works for everyone is healthcare that listens to everyone equally. 69% of people from ethnic minorities in the U.S. have had their trust damaged by past negative healthcare experiences. I’m proud to join A Million Conversations - bringing the industry together to rebuild trust with people from marginalized communities, and helping to end health inequalities.
Subarna Malakar
Head of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, North America and Global Specialty Care
*This data was collected as part of a global poll by Sanofi. The poll included 11,500 people in five countries (UK, U.S., Japan, Brazil, France) with large sample sizes coming from marginalized groups.
We can’t ignore how belonging to a marginalized group increases the likelihood of a trust-damaging experience any longer, especially for people from more than one of those communities.
We have a duty to ensure that we chase the miracles of science to improve people's lives, regardless of who they are, or where they come from. And we won’t rest until it becomes all of our reality.
Click here to learn more about A Million Conversations, Sanofi’s new, global initiative bridging the healthcare trust gap within marginalized communities around the world.
MAT-US-2300370-v2.0-02/2024