Social Corporate Responsibilty
Unbelievably, today the UK Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, announced on a TV breakfast show that McDonald’s (that’s right- as in ‘burger’ McDonald’s) has won approval to offer courses which could form part of a qualification at the standard of A-levels or advanced Diplomas. According to a report on BBC on-line, this means that students could combine units from in-house courses with others to obtain the new Diplomas, which combine practical and theoretical learning. As you can see from the BBC coverage, the debate seems to be over the quality of the training rather than whether offering education is something that McDonald’s should be doing in the first place. Enter the new era of Social Corporate Responsibility (SCR). We have touched on this issue before in an article The Global compact: human rights protection, so I thought you might be interested to read the recent very enlightening special report from The Economist on Social Corporate Responsibility. And just as tobacco companies are about to join the wave of SCR (eg. Philip Morris have recently set up a “health research unit,”) I also thought you might be interested to read a Lancet editorial about tobacco companies published in this week’s issue which I have copied for you below. Just in case any of you are ever lulled into thinking that it is time to give tobacco companies a break! Rhona
Lancet editorial: The perverse prosperity of the tobacco industry
Incredibly, the financial health of tobacco companies continues to improve as the physical health of its customers continues to decline. Last week, analysts at the bank, J P Morgan, reported that tobacco had consistently outperformed the US and European market since 1973 and that they saw no reason for this trend to change. And this despite all the assaults against the tobacco industry over the past few decades: first, lawsuits and then the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), WHO’s first treaty, which was adopted in 2005 and has been signed by 168 countries to date.
Such attacks on the industry continue thick and fast. Last week in Florida, US tobacco companies were deluged with thousands of new lawsuits before the deadline imposed by the Florida Supreme Court for filing individual claims after last year’s decision to overturn a US$145 billion class action punitive award. And the Nigerian Government is currently suing three tobacco companies-British American Tobacco, Philip Morris, and International Tobacco-for $44 billion after accusing them of deliberately promoting smoking to young Nigerians.
The LancetChronic Diseases Series showed that 5·5 million deaths could be avoided in 23 countries if the four elements of the FCTC-increased taxes on tobacco products; enforcement of smoke-free work places; packaging, labels, and public awareness campaigns about the health risks of smoking; and a comprehensive ban on tobacco advertising-were implemented.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has taken a stand against investing in tobacco companies, describing such enterprises as “egregious”. Other investors should follow their example. And WHO should make better use of the most effective weapon it has against the tobacco industry-the FCTC. Countries that have not signed and ratified the FCTC, such as America and Italy, should do so and all member states should make the implementation of the four key elements of the FCTC an urgent priority. Tobacco companies must not be allowed to continue to profit from the massive amount of mortality, morbidity, and misery they cause. We look forward to the time when J P Morgan advises investors to “sell, sell, sell”. The Lancet
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