FAQ

XProject is a long-term initiative that aims to drive a worldwide transformation in women’s health by raising awareness about the gaps that exist and collaborating with partners across the health ecosystem to address the barriers that prevent women from receiving the healthcare they need.

XProject creates a platform to listen to, support and champion women, putting their needs in the spotlight to challenge and elevate the equity agenda. As we better understand their experiences and hurdles, we can build the movement to drive change by teaming up with global and regional partners to co-create solutions that will improve health outcomes and quality of life for women worldwide. We want to think outside the box and bring different perspectives and expertise together, so that we can close the gaps in women’s health and foster equitable healthcare for all.

MyStoryForChange, also known as #MSFC, is part of our commitment to helping break down barriers in women’s health. We’re inviting women from all over the world to join the conversation and share their own experience, so that together, we can change and shape the future of healthcare for women.

For too long, women have been missing in healthcare. Their voices and experiences have seldom been accounted for in science and healthcare, which has created blind spots in their health needs, and inequities in treatment, care and access. We believe that evolving the healthcare system to better serve every woman begins with listening to their voices.

#MSFC gives women all over the world a platform to share the experiences, challenges, and hurdles they’ve encountered during their healthcare journey. By listening to and amplifying women’s voices, we can better understand and address their health needs and drive changes that lead to improved care.

Your voice matters and sharing your experience can help shed light on the gaps that exist in women’s healthcare. After submitting your story to the XProject story collectionwe will review it to ensure it complies with our community guidelines. If it meets the criteria, your story will be featured on thewebsite along with other stories to reaffirm the need for change. Some stories will be turned into illustrations by female artists, while others may be shared on our social media channels.

The submission portal opened in January 2023 and will remain open for the foreseeable future. We will continue to monitor and publish the stories submitted on a regular basis.

Roche has been a trusted partner for women and healthcare providers for many years, supporting women's health by developing therapeutics and diagnostics in cancers and other conditions that impact women, and implementing global, regional and local initiatives to improve access, treatment and care for women. But we believe more can be done.  

We’re committed to advancing innovations that meet women’s unique needs throughout her healthcare journey and across the different stages of her life. At the same time, we are continuously expanding our support for women by collaborating with individuals, organisations and policy-makers to tackle the fundamental inequities that exist within health systems and improve outcomes for women everywhere.

We’re on a mission to break down the barriers that prevent women from getting the healthcare they need, but we know this won’t be a ‘quick fix’ and that we can’t do it alone. So we’re listening to women’s voices, putting their needs in the spotlight to understand the gaps that exist, and collaborating with partners to find solutions that transform healthcare for women around the world. We’re committed to investing in long-term changes that improve health outcomes and quality of life for women everywhere, and create equitable healthcare for all.

We collaborate with global, regional and local stakeholders including individuals, organisations, industry, government and more, to identify and remove barriers in healthcare systems so that every woman can fully and equitably access care, no matter where they are in the world. Some of our partnerships include:

• which brings public, private and not-for-profit organisations together to break silos and overcome system challenges by establishing clinics in remote areas in Kenya to provide integrated care for breast and cervical cancer. Since it first launched in 2019, 16 clinics have been established.

• with the Johns Hopkins Program for International Education in Gynecology and Obstetrics (Jhpiego) and the Government of Ghana aims to improve women’s health outcomes by removing barriers to early detection and treatment.

• Throughwe are supporting the training and mentoring of healthcare personnel in rural and underserved areas in India, Indonesia, Ivory Coast, Malaysia, Pakistan, Philippines and Canada, enabling the faster diagnosis and treatment of the patients they serve, with an initial focus on women’s cancer.

• We actively scout and collaborate with start-ups and research projects that focus on women’s health and digital innovation, working closely withand supporting theto help promote women’s health within the digital health ecosystem.

• We have a number of cervical cancer partnerships - you can find more information

Improving health outcomes for all patients is core to our mission at Roche, and we believe that a focus on improving healthcare for women will in turn lead to improved universal health. Women play a pivotal role in society and healthcare – they are mothers, caregivers and healthcare workers – and their ill-health affects those around them and the people they care for. Driving changes and investing in creating more equitable systems that better support women’s health and well-being can have long-term benefits for society and broader population outcomes.

When we use the terms "women" or "women's health," we are referring to people who were born with two X chromosomes (XX). However, we acknowledge that not everyone who has two X chromosomes identifies as a woman. 

Since we are all unique, we aspire to provide every individual with personalised healthcare, based not only on clinical characteristics, but also on personal circumstances, priorities, and cultural considerations.

While women overall haven’t been adequately understood in healthcare, it’s also important to recognise that disparities exist among women in different racial and ethnic groups.

As we strive to deliver more patient benefit, we aim to meet the needs of underrepresented patients and communities, and address healthcare disparities in order to deliver more personalised healthcare solutions for all patients. One way we do this is through our Advancing Inclusive Research commitment where we’re breaking down barriers in research and clinical development to ensure greater inclusion of patients across racial and ethnic groups. For example, we’ve teamed up with a coalition of research centres in areas of the United States with higher Black and Hispanic/Latinx populations to advance representation in our oncology clinical trials.