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Resolution: Report Related to Global HIV/AIDS-TB-Malaria Pandemics Non-Pharmaceutical Company General Resolution
2004 Shareholder Resolution approved by the Advisory Committee on Corporate Social Responsibility (ACCSR)
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Resolution:
Report Related to Global HIV/AIDS-TB-Malaria Pandemics
Non-Pharmaceutical Company General Resolution
RESOLVED:
Shareholders request that our Board review the economic effects
of the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria pandemics on the
company's business strategy, and its initiatives to date, and
report to shareholders within six (6) months following the 2005
annual meeting. This report, developed at reasonable costs and
omitting proprietary information, will identify the impacts of
these pandemics on the company.
SUPPORTING STATEMENT:
We believe that HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis (TB) and Malaria pose
major risks to the long-term financial health of firms, like
[INSERT COMPANY], that operate in emerging markets.
The crisis of HIV/AIDS in Africa, with half of all global HIV/AIDS cases, is well known. UNAIDS – the joint United Nations AIDS program – reports life expectancy in much of southern Africa has declined by over half, to barely thirty years.
New research also shows disturbing trends in Asian markets. 7.4 million people in Asia are living with HIV, says UNAIDS. India has the greatest number of people living with HIV in the world, says Richard Feachem, who runs the Global Fund to Fight AIDS-TB-Malaria. New infection rates in Asia are at all-time highs.
Foreign Affairs reported in December 2002 that even moderate HIV pandemics in India and China may reduce per capita GNP by 2025 to virtually 2000 levels – wiping out a generation’s worth of economic growth.
In China, UNAIDS projects 10 million infections by 2010. Stephen Roach, Morgan Stanley’s Chief Economist, wrote in June 2004 that "all the economic growth in the world cannot possibly compensate for the devastation China would face if [UNAIDS] projections were to come to pass."
Standard Chartered Bank Group Chief Executive Mervyn Davies, in a 2004 World Economic Forum report, cautioned that "AIDS imposes a day-to-day economic ‘tax’ that compromises business productivity." Firms pay in increased health and benefit costs, decreased productivity, higher turnover, and other ways.
Despite these warnings, the same report concluded "firms are not particularly active in combating HIV/AIDS" and "businesses appear to be making decisions based on a patchy assessment of the risks they face."
Unfortunately, "most companies do not yet report appropriate data for investors to make informed decisions about the impact of HIV/AIDS," says a 2003 survey of corporations by UNAIDS. We believe, to date, our company’s reporting has also been inadequate.
In contrast to our company’s performance, several large-cap firms make reporting on infectious diseases best practice. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has funded an HIV/AIDS Resource Document at the Global Reporting Initiative.
In 2004, Coca-Cola shareholders approved a resolution seeking such a report with 98% support. Coca-Cola’s subsequent report notes "the moral and business imperatives are of equal importance" in responding to HIV/AIDS.
Our experience with Coca-Cola and other leading companies demonstrates that these reports need not be onerous. In our opinion, shareholders must fully understand the threats posed by these diseases in order to make informed assessments of our company’s value.
We urge shareholders to vote FOR this resolution.
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