With the passing of Companies Bill 2012 in the Lok Sabha on December 18, 2012, the Indian pharmaceutical companies have to invest anywhere between Rs 300-325 crore in the coming years under Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) scheme. With CSR back in news again, we try to put across several effective CSR initiatives pharma companies can implement.
For the pharma companies, CSR activity can be altogether a different approach, as they can apply their knowledge of science, expertise and technology to address critical healthcare needs. This can be achieved through innovative partnerships with governments, healthcare professionals and NGOs.
For effective CSR, Pharma companies can also partner in healthcare initiatives like promoting wellness or preventive healthcare, consumer education programs, health check-up camps etc. Some of the key benefits of these activities include increasing brand loyalty & brand recognition amongst the consumers, direct consumer relationship or networking through education programs, association with government bodies etc.
There is a scope of an effective CSR in all the initiatives related to R&D including drug development & supply chain, clinical trials, etc. For example, undertaking clinical trials is integral to the development of a new medicine. However, conducting clinical trials for chronic diseases such as HIV/AIDS presents an ethical challenge as life-long treatment is required. In low and middle income countries, it would be irresponsible for any company to sponsor an HIV/AIDS trial and allow patients to be initiated on to therapy, without assurance of continued supply of that drug following the study-end. Thus, company undertaking such trials should take the responsibility of life-long treatment of the patients undergoing such trials.
Access to healthcare is a global issue that needs to be addressed immediately and a lot onus is on the pharmaceutical companies to take an initiative to address this issue. Some critical diseases like HIV/AIDS currently affect an estimated 40 million people worldwide and two thirds of these are in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. For a region facing innumerable societal challenges – inadequate health services, lack of infrastructure, a shortage of skilled healthcare workers, to name a few – it is no wonder that the global HIV/AIDS community calls for free drugs and for companies & individuals to donate funds as immediate fixes to such a pandemic problem.