"ESG is central to the Novartis strategy and is critical to delivering on our purpose to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people's lives. Coupled with our inspired, curious and unbossed culture, we believe ESG efforts on our most material topics will help drive our overall performance as a company and deliver long-term value for our stakeholders," said Vas Narasimhan, CEO of Novartis. "Looking ahead, we are renewing our focus on our ESG material topics, redoubling our efforts on improving access to medicines and accelerating our journey toward a zero-carbon future." Access to medicines remains one of the world's biggest healthcare challenges, and as confirmed by the recent Novartis materiality assessment, it remains one of the most material ESG topics for the company. The WHO estimates that more than 2 billion people worldwide lack access to basic medicines.