Young Health Programme
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The Young Health Programme (YHP) is a global disease prevention initiative, aiming to provide education for young people to feel empowered to make informed choices about their health and catalyse a global, youth-led advocacy movement.
The programme operates in over 40 countries and partners with more than 60 non-profit organisations, including UNICEF and Plan International. The YHP combines community programmes, research, advocacy, and the development of young leaders, with a focus on underserved communities.
Since its launch in 2010, the YHP has directly reached over 23 million young people, trained over 1 million, and engaged more than 23,000 AstraZeneca employees, who have volunteered their time with more than 140,000 hours.
Learn more about YHP's efforts around the world
Discover how our on-the-ground community programmes are acting early to prevent disease later in life
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The YHP aims to prevent the most common non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including cancer, diabetes, heart disease and respiratory disease, by addressing five main risk factors: tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, and air pollution. Additionally, the programme tackles climate-health impacts to build healthier communities, recognising, as projected in the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report, that children born after 2010 will be the first generation to enter adulthood in a world where the average temperature will reach 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, and are expected to experience a +2°C rise within their lifetime.1
Community programmes
Advocacy
Youth leadership
Research
At AstraZeneca, we know that taking action to drive sustainability is fundamental, not only to the health of the planet, but to the health of our society and people. Our Young Health Programme is one great example of our commitment with its aim to empower young people to make healthier choices. I am proud of the impact the Young Health Programme has had over the years. It's inspiring to see the impact this programme is having on reducing NCD risk factors in communities around the world.
The YHP is part of AstraZeneca's commitment to sustainability, focused on areas where we can drive positive impact, and where collaboration across and beyond the health sector can catalyse long-term change: Improving Health Equity; strengthening Health Systems Resilience to meet current and future health needs; and taking action on Climate & Nature to support the health of our planet.
YHP activities support the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal Target 3.4 - to reduce premature deaths linked to NCDs by one third by 2030 and to promote mental health and well-being.
Articles
2026 Impact Fellowship applications now open!
Explore our Young Health Programme Impact Fellowship & Scholarship opportunities
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Programmes
Working on-the-ground to tailor prevention programmes to community needs
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Advocacy
Working globally and locally to put adolescent health on the policy agenda
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About
Find out about YHP and the impact we have made
References
- IPCC AR6 Working Group I, Summary for Policymakers, 2021 - Page 14 (Section B.1.1). Available from: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_WGI_SPM_final.pdf