January 2012 Archives

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend the opening of Van Gogh: Up Close at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I was doing double duty, that night. First, I was attending officially as part of GSK's representative team, because we are one of the corporate sponsors, along with Sun Life Financial. But also, more importantly, I was attending as an art lover. And this show did not disappoint.

Van Gogh looms large when you study the canon of art history. He's A Big Deal. He made Important Paintings. Paintings that people look at in a museum gallery and say "ah, yes, of course--that's a Van Gogh." I thought I knew him so what more could I possibly learn?

But what struck me as I wandered through the exhibit was not what I recognized, but, instead, what surprised me--as well as some of the assumptions made by the curators in organizing it. What we get to see are not only some familiar pictures and themes (sunflowers, for example), but also a number of pictures of grasses, flowers, and landscapes which force the viewer into a dance with space and perspective. He pulled the viewer's eye to the foreground to look at interesting details or used radical strategies to push our eyes around the painting in ways never done before. He cropped images to limit the depth of field, highlighting the way he used paint and brushstrokes, to maximum emotional impact. And throughout the exhibit are complementary works from artists who inspired him, (or, in the case of contemporary nature photographers, maybe not so much...).

For me it was best shown in a painting called "Almond Blossom" from 1890. It's in the permanent collection of the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, and was painted to celebrate the birth of his nephew and namesake. It is so hopeful, and stands out from much of Van Gogh's other works. I stopped in my tracks when I happened upon it.

I'm really glad GSK sponsored this exhibit (the fifth that we have sponsored at the museum). It speaks of our commitment to the communities in which we operate. In addition to our support for the arts, GSK also has the IMPACT Awards, which rewards nonprofits for providing access to healthcare for underserved populations, patient assistance programs, and the PULSE employee volunteer program. We also support K-12 education (STEM, literacy, and dropout prevention), civic and environmental programs. All of these things help contribute to a healthy community.

Van Gogh: Up Close opens tomorrow, February 1. Don't miss it.

Photo used with permission by the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Today marked a significant event for Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs)--a call to arms of sorts.

Thirteen pharmaceutical companies; the US, UK, and UAE governments; the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; the World Bank; and other global health organizations announced a new, coordinated push to work with the World Health Organization and endemic countries to fight 10 NTDs by 2020. 

In London today, I participated in a meeting of partners who came together to stand united in this fight against lymphatic filariasis (elephantiasis), river blindness, blinding trachoma, intestinal parasites, schistosomiasis, leprosy, Guinea worm, visceral leishmaniasis, sleeping sickness, and Chagas disease. These are diseases that threaten more than one billion people in developing countries, causing tremendous illness, disability and death. They tax a heavy burden on already over-stretched and under-resourced health systems; yet they are diseases that we have the tools to fight! 

Speaking on behalf of all the industry partners, GSK's CEO, Sir Andrew Witty, announced expanded and extended donations of medicines for control, elimination, or eradication of these 10 diseases. Collectively, our industry will supply all the drugs needed through the end of the decade.

In addition to donation of necessary medicines, pharma partners pledged to advance research and development to find new and improved treatments for NTDs. 

I have worked with GSK's albendazole donation program for over 10 years, and today made me even prouder to be a part of this global effort. All too often in my travels to endemic countries, I've seen children facing multiple diseases: a child carrying a heavy intestinal worm infection, for example, also living in fear of severe disfigurement from LF. It therefore makes good sense for us to work together. With flexibility and eagerness, we can and will make a marked difference in the communities threatened by these once neglected diseases.

Though I've heard the statistic many times, I always I find it staggering to think that Africa has to cope with 24 percent of the world's disease burden, with only 3 percent of the world's health care workers. This is a heart breaking fact that speaks to why every year millions of people suffer--and in many cases die--from preventable or curable diseases.  We must do more to improve access to basic health care, particularly in rural communities in developing countries.

Yesterday, I was proud to be in Washington, DC to participate in the launch of the Frontline Health Workers Coalition, a group of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) that have come together to urge greater, more strategic investment in health workers who are often the first and only point of contact for medical care in their communities, and who can provide a "cost-effective way to save lives and foster a healthier, safer and more prosperous world." The Frontline Health Worker Coalition, along with a group of private sector companies, hopes to do their part to fill the gap of one million health workers in the developing world.

Private companies investing in training for health workers is nothing new. At GSK, one of the programs we are most proud of is our commitment to reinvest 20 percent of our profits in the world's Least Developed Countries back into programs that train and develop health workers in those countries, working with Save the Children, CARE and AMREF. Last year we reinvested approximately $6 million. This investment could support the training of between 7,000 - 10,000 health workers each year.

What was new was that GSK, together with seven other private sector companies--BD, Johnson & Johnson, Medtronic, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Intel--have come together in a new partnership with the US government to help address the shortage of frontline health workers in the developing world. This sort of collaboration is an exciting and open new approach--one we hope we'll see more of in the future. 

Some might think that's just philanthropy aimed at improving our reputation. But for GSK, investing in health systems for developing countries is not only good for patients; it also makes good business sense. Our investments in the world's least developed countries help ensure that we have a sustainable and successful business that will grow with those countries. The launch of the Frontline Health Workers Coalition, and the many partners and external experts who showed up to support the coalition yesterday exemplified how different organizations can share the same goal and provide different but equally valuable contributions to one goal:  improving healthcare around the world.

Read some of the coverage here, here, and here.

Wisely Abaker, 4, is receiving treatment for Malaria at the Save the Children-supported Mvolo Primary Health Care Center (PHCC) in Western Equatoria, Southern Sudan. Wisely was suffering from abdominal pain, fever, weakness and poor appetite when his mother brought the family to the Mvolo PHCC Inpatient Ward. The Mvolo PHCC is a Government of Southern Sudan medical facility supported by Save the Children. 1 December 2009

Photo by: Jenn Warren