Abstract
This article addresses an area that has been largely underserved by the development community, and one in which there is a particularly good opportunity for the private sector to take a lead in making a difference to employees, customers and local communities: chronic, non-communicable diseases (NCDs). It highlights the extent of the epidemic of NCDs in developing countries, sets out the 'business case' for the private sector to act on NCDs, and gives examples of initiatives by business to ensure that the healthy choice really is an easier choice for employees, consumers and local communities. It makes the case that, to be genuinely sustainable, businesses should be addressing health as a core part of what they do and, by working in partnership - as called for by the Millennium Development Goals - they can make a real difference and become part of the solution. Identifying ways in which this can be done should form a key part both of planning for, and action after, the UN High-level Meeting on NCDs, to be held in September 2011.
Highlights
Business - a force for good? Industry can be a force for real good in developing countries, with the private sector providing jobs and income for employees and their families, goods and services for consumers, and tax revenue and capacity-building opportunities for governments
The importance of working with responsible businesses to achieve poverty reduction has been acknowledged by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), established in 2000, Goal 8 of which calls for a ‘global partnership for development’, incorporating the private sector, notably the pharmaceutical industry and new
This article focuses on an area that has been largely underserved by the development community, and one in which there is a good opportunity for businesses to take a lead in making a difference to employees, customers and local communities: chronic, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs)
Summary
Business - a force for good? Industry can be a force for real good in developing countries, with the private sector providing jobs and income for employees and their families, goods and services for consumers, and tax revenue and capacity-building opportunities for governments. 4.2.1 Managing existing conditions Many companies already recognise their role in addressing the health crisis in developing countries - most clearly in regions with high prevalence of HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria This model could potentially be extended to NCDs. Pharmaceutical companies can improve access to medicine (for example statins, insulin and blood-pressure-lowering drugs) in poor countries, through donations, improving availability, ensuring quality and reducing the costs of their products - and can work to address NCDs in other ways, going beyond the supply of medicines to support their delivery to the populations that need them. The differential pricing policy ensures that insulin is more available to people even in countries with poor healthcare capacity; additional work is being done to improve distribution in collaboration with local businesses, diabetes organisations and ministries of health, including infrastructure development (such as establishing diabetes clinics in public hospitals), provision of diagnostic equipment for diagnosis, monitoring and care, capacity-building, patient and family education as well as advocacy to include diabetes in national plans and priorities, and large-scale awareness-raising initiatives. Data-gathering and research into what works are essential for identifying the best use of resources and the most fruitful interventions - but there are already clear indications of where the most fruitful interventions lie and, ahead of the UN Summit, action must be taken to prevent the burden of NCDs from increasing further over the coming decades
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