Our approach

At Novartis, corporate citizenship rests on four pillars.

 

Patients

Novartis puts patients first. We want to create value for all patients, including those who cannot afford treatments. In 2006, our access-to-medicines programs, valued at USD 755 million, reached 33.6 million patients globally. Through multilateral institutions and public-private partnerships, we provide free leprosy and tuberculosis treatment and our antimalarial drug Coartem® without profit to patients in the developing world.

We also offer discounts and support programs to patients in the developed world who lack medical insurance or cannot afford treatment. We designed one of the most far-reaching patient assistance programs ever implemented on a global scale for our cancer therapy Gleevec/Glivec®.

 

Ethical business conduct

We strive for high performance with high integrity. We operate an integrity and compliance program followed throughout the company. During 2006, Novartis associates worldwide completed more than
218 000 e-learning courses in integrity and compliance. Each Novartis division has its own marketing code, applied globally.

 

Our people and communities

We are an integral part of the communities that host our operations. We strive to provide our associates with the safest possible workplace, and to promote their health and well-being. We pay a living wage worldwide, contributing to the stability and prosperity in communities where we operate. Every year in April, our Community Partnership Day provides an opportunity for our associates to express their personal commitment to corporate citizenship.

 

Environmental care

We aim to make efficient use of natural resources and to minimize the environmental impacts of all activities and products over their lifecycle. We also subscribe to major market take-back programs to properly dispose of unused drugs. Our structured approach to environmental impact has helped us make considerable progress. While our sales have doubled since 1997, we have reduced the rate of growth in our consumption of energy and water compared with revenues.