Companies Commit to Supporting Health MDGs at GBCHealth Conference
World’s Premiere Conference on Business and Health Galvanizes Business to Commit to a Healthier World
May 30, 2013 /3BL Media/ - On May 15-17 the GBCHealth Annual Conference mobilized companies to accelerate efforts to save the lives of 4.4 million children and 200,000 mothers around the world by December 31, 2015, the expiration date of the Millennium Development Goals. The GBCHealth Conference is the only global health event focused solely on the role of business in improving health.
Three companies – Chevron, Johnson & Johnson and BD – announced commitments to HIV/AIDS, maternal and child health and tuberculosis initiatives, respectively.
In addition, the U.S. and Swedish governments and other partners announced a program to dramatically speed up the delivery of lifesaving health supplies such as bed nets, medicines and contraceptives to 126 low-and middle-income countries.
The announcements came amid three days of high-powered sessions and inspiring speakers, including the Earth Institute’s Jeffrey Sachs, Newark Mayor Cory Booker, and the first lady of Zambia, Dr. Christine Kaseba-Sata, a tireless maternal health advocate.
With fewer than 1,000 days remaining until the expiration of the Millennium Development Goals -- which include global targets for significantly reducing maternal and child deaths and the impact of HIV, tuberculosis and malaria -- the Conference stressed that these challenges cannot be met without the private sector.
“Millions of people in resource-poor countries are dying from preventable causes and once again the business community needs to engage to meet these challenges,” said Gary Cohen, acting CEO of GBCHealth and Executive Vice President of BD.
Leaders called on business to help meet these goals by contributing to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the leading funder for those three diseases. “Real estate developers say location, location, location,” said Ray Chambers, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Envoy for Financing the Health Millennium Development Goals and for Malaria. “For us, it’s Global Fund, Global Fund, Global Fund.”
Corporate Commitments and a Health Financing Initiative Announced
During the Conference gala on May 16th, Chevron committed to investing an additional $1.3 million over the next three years in its partnership in Nigeria to scale up efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV. Johnson & Johnson, through its company BabyCenter, will provide free locally-tailored information on the critical warning signs and care opportunities for the largest preventable causes of death among children – pneumonia, diarrhea and malaria. And BD committed to adding significant funding to combat tuberculosis.
The heads of USAID, the Global Fund, The United Nations Foundation and Sweden’s Global Health Ambassador announced a deepening of the existing Pledge Guarantee for Health (PGH) that will speed the delivery of life-saving supplies once donor aid has been approved. As part of this innovative financing program, Merck will lower the prices of some its medicines and vaccines while Vestergaard Frandsen will lower prices on some of its malaria nets.
Explore key takeaways and lessons learned from the GBCHealth Conference here.
Explore the speakers and sessions that took place here.
Formerly the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GBCHealth is a coalition of more than 200 companies actively addressing global health problems. Learn more at www.gbchealth.org
More than 600 attendees left the Conference energized to step up their global health efforts.
