FFC Endorses ICCR Statement Promoting Global Health

June 16, 2014

As a member of the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR), Friends Fiduciary endorses ICCR’s Statement of Principles and Recommended Corporate Practices to Promote Global Health. Despite widespread declaration and recognition of the human right to health, many members of ICCR, with ministries around the world, continue to witness the undue disease burden borne by the world’s poorest and most vulnerable communities. The traditional pharmaceutical model — high drug prices in developed countries as a way to offset research and development (R&D) costs and to keep prices low in developing countries — is facing increasing challenges and has led to a gap in research for illnesses that overwhelmingly affect the poor. There are, however, opportunities for pharmaceutical companies to find new ways to fund R&D. Emerging markets, where people are disproportionately affected by under-researched illnesses, present opportunities to simultaneously grow business and promote broader healthcare. Friends Fiduciary believes that the Statement’s global health principles and recommended corporate practices will assist pharmaceutical companies in promoting the human right to health. As active, socially-responsible and long-term investors, we believe in, and promote, the congruence in addressing the wellbeing of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable as good, sustainable business. The Statement was publicly released on April 7, World Health Day. To view the Statement, including the listed principles and recommended practices, click here.