Sir Andrew Witty, Chief Executive Officer, GSK, at a teleconference in London recently, announced a five-year strategic partnership with Justin Forsyth-led Save the Children, a non-profit, non-governmental organisation. Witty declared that his company plans to raise at least £15million as well as encourage its global workforce to help raise awareness through volunteering and fundraising, to save the lives of a million children in sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of the globe. Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf was part of the interactive forum
How and why was the partnership with Save the Children forged?
The partnership is something that has been worked together over the last 15 months. It is something which is been inspired by the opportunity to really try and generate different types of partnerships, bringing together scientific research skills from the private sector, pharmaceutical companies alongside the underground expertise working with Save the Children, to tackle child illness and mortality and general healthcare challenges.
A partnership of this scale gives us an opportunity to do something amazing – to save the lives of one million children and to transform the lives of millions more. At GSK we are motivated by developing innovative life-saving medicines and getting them to the people that need them. By joining forces with Save the Children, we can amplify these efforts to create a new momentum for change and stop children dying from preventable diseases. I hope this partnership inspires GSK employees and sets a new standard for how companies and NGOs can work together towards a shared goal.
How much is GSK committing into the partnership?
We are looking to raise £15million which we will transfer to Save the Children over the course of the partnership, while we will encourage our 100,400 employees to raise £1million in a year, which we will double. Additional contributions will be made through specific research and development programmes.
How will the £15million grow the business?
We have over the years been very fortunate with our shareholders. I think that’s because people understand that we’re a global pharmacy company with the ability, strengths and talents, not just for our shareholders within the rich countries but wherever they are. Our focus at GSK is very much in two strands: innovation and access. And we believe that we can guarantee very sustainable return for our shareholders.
At the same time, we’re very innovative towards strengthening of the developing world, especially in all healthcare arenas, and that has been something that the shareholders welcome. At GSK, we have in the last five years adopted a business model that is more committed to granting access to healthcare, and bring together all business models, develop new products, and make them available to people who need them, where we see potential opportunity to do that. Our goal is long-term and multi-dimensional. It is a collaborative working structure. We have already begun a focus inside the organisation and we are much more interested in impact and results.
Given the high level of child mortality in Nigeria, which is 90, 000 death annually, what does the country stand to gain from the partnership?
The partnership will initially run two flagship programmes in Sub Saharan Africa – Democratic Republic of Congo and Kenya and replicate programmes in other countries in Asia and Latin America.
We will scale-up as the years roll by. Save the Children is currently working in 120 countries including Nigeria.
In Nigeria, Save the Children is helping to improve health systems in northern Nigeria to delivery maternal, newborn, and child health services. It is helping 4,320 children through support for protection and peace committees as well as getting 12,400 children back to school and providing them with clean water.
It has set up and continues to support child protection and peace committees (CPPCs) in 36 communities, benefiting 4,320 children. The CPPCs target children whose lives are affected by HIV and AIDS, exploitation, extreme poverty, family violence and neglect, and discrimination. They liaise with local government agencies and others to improve basic services, and provide support for the most vulnerable children and families.
Is there a timeline for the partnership?
It is a long-term partnership, at least for initial five years.
What benefits, if any, will this partnership serve ultimately?
We are working together to accelerate the availability of two children’s medicines and establishing a joint R&D board to tackle causes of newborn and infant death. Amongst the key initiatives are the transformation of an antiseptic used in mouthwash into a life-saving product for new-borns and the roll-out of a powder-form of an antibiotic in child-friendly doses to help fight pneumonia – one of the main killers of children under five.
For the first time, Save the Children will be involved in helping GSK to research and develop medicines for children, with a seat on a new paediatric R&D board to accelerate progress on innovative life-saving interventions for under- fives, and to identify ways to ensure the widest possible access in the developing world. GSK will be able to leverage Save the Children’s child health expertise and on-the- ground experience to reach children in the most remote and marginalised communities with basic healthcare.
The GSK-Save the Children partnership will also focus on widening vaccine coverage to the poorest children, increasing investment in health workers, as well as developing a low-cost nutritional product to help combat child malnutrition.
While good progress has been made in recent years, almost seven million children died in 2011 through lack of access to basic healthcare, vaccines or nutritious food. Through these and other initiatives, the partnership aims to help save the lives of one million children in the next five years.
Specifically, we are reformulating the antiseptic chlorhexidine – found in GSK’s Corsodyl mouth-wash – for cleansing the umbilical cord stump of new-borns to prevent serious infection, a major cause of newborn death in poor countries. Studies from South Asia suggest this simple intervention could prevent up to 1 in 6 new-born deaths in low resource settings.
Also, we are seeking the accelerated registration and roll-out of a child-friendly antibiotic, used to treat pneumonia – which currently kills 1.4 million under-fives, in countries with a high-incidence of the illness. This will be developed in dose packs suitable for small babies and young infants. GSK will also work with Save the Children to explore the reformulation of an alternative child-friendly version in places where access to water and milk is not easy.
Besides, we hope to widen vaccination coverage to the hardest to reach communities: for example, through greater use of mobile technology solutions, sending SMS messages to remind parents to take up vaccination services and providing health workers and health facilities with smartphones to allow them to record and schedule vaccinations.
We are investing in healthcare workers in the poorest communities, building on an existing GSK-Save the Children collaboration to help address the estimated shortfall of at least 3.5 million trained healthcare workers, who can deliver vaccines and essential medicines to babies and young children, provide health advice and treat malnutrition.
Developing a blueprint for how businesses can deliver better social outcomes by engaging with health and development issues and pursuing joint advocacy efforts to ensure a focus on children’s health and wellbeing are maintained in global health policy discussions.
