Faithbased Partnership with the Pharmaceutical Industry

1
Faith-based Partnership with the Pharmaceutical
Industry

• Why are some FBOs comfortable and others uneasy
  with such partnerships?

Daniel Aukerman IMA World Health
2
IMA World Health History

• 1960 pharmaceutical companies donating products
  to church missions overseas requested one central
  location
• Hence, long-standing relationship
• Different world today
• Many useful, branded drugs off patent
• High quality, generics available abroad
• Agencies view IMA as a vendor

3
Pharmaceutical International Health Interests
Today Impressions

• Greater savvy about development
• Ownership of initiatives
• Less use our medicines as you see fit
• Always aware of public image
• Prefer to donate products that have a clear fit
  into existing programs
• Look for significant, large, national level
  impact

4
PfizerDiflucan Partnership Program

• 59 countries in Africa, Asia and Caribbean
  participating
• Over 350,000 patients treated for two HIV-related
  fungal opportunistic infections, 570m in
  medicines donated
• IMA World Health as Charity Trust

5
MerckMectizan Donation Program

• Active Programs in 33 hyper-endemic countries
• More than 60 million people treated annually
• Close to 500 million treatments since 1987
• More than 1.8 billion tablets donated
• Prevents 40,000 causes of blindness annually
• Has contributed to the recovery of more than 60
  million acres of previously abandoned arable land
• IMA World Health as NGDO partner

6
Why be uncomfortable?

• Secular, for profit vs faith-based, nonprofit
• Corporate sector has been criticized for negative
  effects on health systems for the sake of profit
  - ?guilt by association?
• Is corporate philanthropy genuine or is the focus
  on public image - ?PR assistance?
• Advocacy/Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network
  critical of corporate partners - ?compromised
  solidarity?

7
Why Be Comfortable?

• Companies may be more willing to fund faith-based
  healthcare efforts.
• Corporate funding less regulated than government
  flexibility in programming.
• Excellent, caring people within corporations who
  want their for-profits to also serve.
• Not a perfect world get help for those in need
  wherever we can find it.

8
Principled FBO Corporate Partnership

• Remain true to your own beliefs
• Faith, focus on poor, development orientation
• Recognize your own worth add value
• Appreciate the benevolence of a corporate donor
  without condoning all aspects of business
  operations in other arenas
• Affirm whole heartedly the partnership endeavor.