What is “shareholder activism” and what does it have to do with access to essential medicines?
“Shareholder activism” is a broad term that encompasses the many ways in which shareholders of publicly traded companies have engaged corporate management on a broad array of issues, including pharmaceutical donation programs of essential medicines. Socially concerned investors have used a range of tactics to lobby for greater corporate social responsibility including dialogue with management, letter writing campaigns, attending annual corporate board meetings, and filing shareholder proposals, which are voted upon by all of a corporation’s stockholders. One half of the entire world’s population – approximately 3 billion people – live on less than $2.00 per day. The world’s poorest are also likely to be most a risk from diseases that are preventable or curable by existing medicines. While many essential medicines are available at a reasonable price because they are generic medicines (in other words, the patents have expired on these medicines and many companies can produce them), other
