Sustainable Development: The UN Millennium Development Goals, the UN Global Compact, and the Common Good

6. Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals

117 6 | Achieving the UN Millennium Development Goals The Contribution of Novartis York Lunau novartis has been contributing to the realization of the un Millennium Development Goals since their launch in 2000. First and foremost , novartis contributes through its core business—the discovery, development, and marketing of innovative drugs, helping to save millions of lives and improve quality of life for hundreds of millions of patients. Since not every patient has access to these drugs, novartis carries out extensive access-to-medicine programs, such as drug donations , selling at cost, or patient assistance programs. In line with its core business, novartis also conducts voluntary, not-for-profit research into neglected diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, and tuberculosis. The first part of this essay is dedicated to the contribution novartis makes toward the achievement of the MDGs. Beyond the core business, philanthropic commitments by novartis contribute specifically to the realization of the MDGs. The novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development (nFSD), fully funded by novartis, is a competence center for corporate responsibility and international health, focused on the poorest of the poor. It is committed to “development with a human face,” and its supported projects 118 York Lunau in developing countries are largely focused on the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals—particularly in relation to health. The second part of this essay covers the contribution of the novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development to the achievement of the MDGs. conTRIBuTInG To SocIeTY ThRouGh coRe BuSIneSS Both the commitment and contribution of novartis to achieving the Millennium Development Goals are rooted in its core mission—to discover , develop, and successfully market innovative products that prevent and cure diseases, ease suffering, and enhance quality of life. This core business is, in turn, grounded in the novartis definition of corporate citizenship, which stipulates that business success must be attained with integrity and in an environmentally sustainable manner. As a responsible corporate citizen, novartis strives to be responsive to an array of stakeholders, reflected by four pillars that underpin the company’s corporate citizenship commitment: 1. Patients 2. People and communities 3. environment 4. ethical Business conduct Patients benefit from a diversified but focused portfolio of innovative pharmaceuticals, generic medicines, and consumer health products, as well as vaccines and diagnostic tools. The novartis Pharmaceuticals division focuses on cardiovascular diseases, cancer, mental disorders, such as Alzheimer’s, and rare diseases, such as Muckle-Wells syndrome . The Sandoz division is the second-largest producer of generic medicines in the world, with a range of products including treatments for tuberculosis (TB) and epilepsy. Among the vaccines developed by the Vaccines and Diagnostics division to prevent viral and bacterial diseases, novartis offers a single vaccine against five deadly childhood illnesses: haemophilus influenza type b, diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis, Achieving the un Millennium Development Goals 119 and hepatitis B. In this manner, the core business of novartis contributes to achieving the MDGs by helping to combat disease and promote well-being. In 2009, an estimated 930 million people were protected and treated with novartis products. nevertheless, the company recognizes that many people in the world cannot easily access much-needed health care solutions. Therefore, of this 930 million, 79.5 million disadvantaged people living in developed and developing countries benefited from novartis access-to-medicine programs valued at uSD 1.5 billion. Some 94 percent of the people benefiting from these programs are malaria patients, through the at-cost provision of coartem® for public sector use. Another example is the Patient Assistance Program (PAP) for treatment against two rare forms of cancer: chronic myeloid leukemia and gastrointestinal stromal tumors (Gleevec®/Glivec® and Tasigna®). Diverse access modalities are applied, ranging from copayment (patient /novartis) and shared contribution (novartis/other organizations) to full donation. In 2009, 38,000 patients were reached in this manner. other global access-to-medicine initiatives include treatments against malaria, TB, and liver fluke. In India, novartis has introduced a social business model, Arogya Parivar—meaning “healthy family” in Sanskrit—which targets the health needs of rural populations living at the bottom of the pyramid. Arogya Parivar aims to improve access to health care through a network of community health educators, mainly women, who help promote disease awareness among villagers. They refer patients to rural practitioners who facilitate treatment compliance. In collaboration with city doctors, Arogya Parivar also organizes health camps, free of charge, wherever there is no rural practitioner in the village . A selected range of...