Human rights

At Novartis we believe that respect for human rights is sound business practice. As a responsible corporate citizen, we aim to exert an enlightened presence wherever we operate.

Human rights apply to all people throughout the world. They should guarantee everyone, everywhere, a life in freedom and dignity.

Novartis considers that upholding human rights is fundamental to sustainable social and economic development. We fully support the protection of such rights as enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

2008 marked the 60 th anniversary of this declaration. Adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948, it embodies fundamental standards aimed at protecting the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the individual.

Human rights are cross-cutting issues affecting all aspects of our business, from research and development and clinical trials to marketing and the pricing of medicines. In addition to rights, such as labor norms, which hold the same relevance for all companies, there are rights of particular significance to the pharmaceutical sector, such as the right to medical care, sometimes referred to as the right to health. We are engaged in partnerships with public and private sector organizations to respond to global health challenges by exploring approaches such as tiered pricing, donations and capacity-building.

Novartis has a longstanding commitment to human rights. We were among the first signatories of the United Nations Global Compact in 2000. As early as 2003, we were among the few multinational corporations to have developed a guideline on human rights which sets out our commitments and responsibilities in this area.

Novartis was a founding member of the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR) and has made a major contribution to furthering collective understanding of the role of business in respecting and upholding human rights.

As well as ensuring that we are not complicit in human rights violations, we support human rights by adopting a proactive, ‘rights-aware’ approach across all of our businesses. Through the think tank work of the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development, we are helping to define the part business can play in promoting human rights in general and the right to health in particular.

In addition, since 2006, we have been collaborating with the Danish Institute for Human Rights to develop a version of their Human Rights Compliance Assessment tool adapted to the pharmaceutical industry. We are also involved in pioneering efforts to apply the concept of a living wage across our worldwide operations.

Learn more on the the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR)

Discover more about the 60 th anniversary of the Humam Rights declaration

Visit the the United Nations Global Compact wesite

Download the guideline on human rights developed by multinational corporations
(144 KB)

Learn more on the Business Leaders Initiative on Human Rights (BLIHR)

Visit the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development

Visit the Danish Institute for Human Rights website

Learn more on the concept of a living wage

 

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