With sustainable growth comes sustainable responsibility
By Jean Stéphenne, Chairman and President, GSK Biologicals
Being a socially responsible company is part of GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals’ DNA. For over 20 years, we have been committed to improving global health by investing in innovative vaccines and exercising a differentiated pricing policy for the poorest countries. Internally, we are focused on maintaining excellent relations with our employees and on ongoing efforts to reduce our company’s energy consumption. These are just a few examples of GSK Biologicals’ strong efforts to be a responsible neighbour in both our local and global communities.
The results have been very encouraging: GSK Biologicals has been voted Belgium's best employer several times and our responsible business model has also proven viable in the long term, enabling us to continue to innovate. Last year we distributed more than 1 billion doses of vaccines, three quarters of them in the world's most deprived regions, while at the same time achieving excellent financial performance for our shareholders. This demonstrates that it is possible to improve global health while remaining economically competitive.
The Belgian Presidency will begin in a difficult economic and social context, and one of the challenges in Europe will be to maintain this attention to the social initiatives that make us responsible companies; we must effectively govern our companies and, in parallel, develop responsible leaders. As a business founded in Belgium - where two thirds of our staff, our head office and our main R&D and production facilities are based - we view Europe as an opportunity in terms of both the growth of companies and the development of a new spirit of corporate responsibility and sustainability. By fostering innovation and employment, by promoting the knowledge society and the development of qualified labour, particularly through initiatives such as the Europe 2020 strategy, Europe has the keys to support companies with the new challenges that face them, as well as the new social projects they wish to develop.
The Summit on the Millennium Development Goals, which will take place in New York in September, will also be an opportunity for the Belgian Presidency. Once again, it will be a chance to reaffirm Europe's commitment to a global health policy and the importance of joining forces by creating partnerships between public and private organisations. For over 20 years, we have allocated a large part of our research budget to the development of vaccines against certain diseases that hit the most deprived regions hardest, such as tuberculosis, AIDS and malaria. In-depth discussion is needed about these public-private synergies, which offer an opportunity to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
For Belgium, the EU presidency is a chance to share leading-edge experience about the pharmaceutical sector, responsible practices and development with its European partners - but also beyond Europe's borders.