Davos group engages big business in TB care
New report lists good corporate practices
A report aimed at encouraging the private sector to join the global fight against infectious diseases that afflict the poor was released late last month at the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF). The Forum, a nonprofit group based in Davos, Switzerland, is made up of representatives from the world’s thousand largest corporations who subscribe to the principle that what’s good for the world is also good for business.
The TB-related part of the Forum’s new report lays out examples culled from worthy corporate practices from around the world. The hope is to inspire other businesses to do the same, says Kate Taylor, MD, MPH, senior project manager of the Forum’s Global Health Initiative. The examples have been taken from the four kinds of businesses whose representatives make up the group, Taylor adds: pharmaceutical manufacturers, companies with operations in the affected countries (mining operations, for example), consumer goods manufacturers that want to expand markets into developing countries, and corporate foundations and philanthropists. Each type of business has its own perspective as well as its own role to play, she points out.
"The motivation [to get involved] is personal and immediate if you are, say, a mine operator who sees your friends and colleagues affected by TB or AIDS," she says. For those at a greater remove, the impetus could be concern over the potential loss of a valuable work force. Already, some mining and energy companies in countries hard-hit by TB and AIDS have "accomplished remarkable things," Taylor notes, with TB control programs that meet or even exceed World Health Organization standards.
Still other corporations are moved to action by the prospect of economic and geopolitical unrest, as national economies and work forces unravel under the onslaught of infectious diseases. In a recent speech to the United Nations General Assembly on AIDS, a representative from the International Labor Organization alluded to the enormous scope of the disease’s impact on the global work force: Of the estimated 33 million people who are infected with HIV, 24 million are workers.
An increasing willingness to help out
What corporations bring to the table varies, Taylor says. A pharmaceutical company may become a treatment partner or provide expertise in research and development; a soft-drink giant can lend its marketing expertise to effect behavioral changes or de-stigmatization of the disease; a mining company can commit to providing treatment for workers and for the local community; a corporate philanthropist can scan a "menu of giving opportunities" and select a need to meet.
No matter the motivation for getting involved or the form the involvement takes, businesses are increasingly inclined to see a stake in global health, says Taylor. "That’s because businesspeople are people, and increasingly, companies have begun to recognize the importance of good corporate citizenship," she adds.
The best-practices report, which was to have included a list of recommendations, was due to be published and distributed at last month’s Forum meeting, held Jan. 31-Feb. 3 in New York City, says Taylor. Traditionally, the annual meeting takes place in the Swiss village of Davos; this year, "to express solidarity with New Yorkers as well with the broader international community" in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, it was moved to New York City, Taylor says. The meeting’s agenda is titled, "Managing in Times of Fragility."
The Forum functions not as a fundraising body but instead as a platform where ideas can be exchanged and partnerships forged, says Taylor. Besides compiling the best-practices manual, members have also served on an elite working group charged with devising operating principles for the Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria. The group also recently hosted a private-sector consultation in which corporate representatives brainstormed ideas for the design and function of the Global Fund.
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