Why is it that:
“There is a special duty when you are selling medicine as opposed to pantyhose or hubcaps,”
but also that:
“On the one hand, we don't like it that markets are harsh and unjust, … But on the other hand, it's the power of the market that creates the therapies in the first place”?
The article in the url below goes some way to redressing this disconnect by outlining some of the good work being done by pharmaceutical firms and many of the challenges that prevent more rapid progress. Two aspects of the story jumped out at me: First, how much is being done and how far the industry has progressed toward responding to its critics. For example:
“Efforts to deliver cures to the world's poorest regions range from new research initiatives to Big Pharma donations of medicine. Last November, the World Health Organization unveiled an alliance with six firms that pledged to donate drugs for neglected tropical diseases. … Among the contributions was an unlimited supply of leprosy treatments from Novartis, and up to 200 million tablets a year from Johnson & Johnson to combat intestinal worms in children. … GlaxoSmithKline is sharing more than 800 of its patents with other companies working to find treatments for neglected tropical diseases. The company has also cut prices for more than a dozen drugs sold in the least developed countries -- such as Rwanda, Ethiopia and Cambodia -- to no more than 25% of the developed-world price. The treatments cover conditions that include asthma, malaria and hepatitis B.”
And, second, the prominent role of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which is mentioned in multiple examples in the article as partnering with specific firms to make a significant impact:
“Many such programs are modeled after alliances between drug companies, governments and non-profit organizations that have expanded affordable access to HIV/AIDS treatments in poor countries. Perhaps the most ambitious effort has been in Botswana, which in 2001 joined forces with Merck and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to bring drugs to the impoverished African nation. Now 90% of Botswana's HIV/AIDS patients receive treatment, says Merck, compared with just 5% when the program began.”
No doubt many (if not all) of these initiatives are not widely known, however, and pharmaceutical firms will continue to score poorly in public perceptions of their social responsibility.
Have a good weekend.
David
Instructor Teaching Site: http://www.sagepub.com/strategiccsr/
The library of CSR Newsletters are archived at: http://strategiccsr-sage.blogspot.com/
Profits and Social Responsibility: Chastened Drug Makers Step Up Efforts to Bring Affordable Medicines to Poor Countries
February 10, 2011
Knowledge@Wharton
