What Leaders Say
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"The Access to Medicine Index is a very important project. What gets measured, gets done."
Dr. Margaret Chan - Director-General, World Health Organization
"When I talk to executives from pharmaceutical companies they tell me that they want to do more for neglected diseases, but they at least need to get credit for it. The Access to Medicine Index does exactly that."
Bill Gates - Chairman of Microsoft Corporation, Co-Chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
"Effective medicines save lives. Pharmaceutical companies play key roles in developing medicines and making them available to people who need them. The Access to Medicine Index shows how well companies are doing in contributing to better access to medicines and where they can do more to get better results for the poor."
Andrew Mitchell - Former Secretary of State for International Development, the Department for International Development (DFID), UK
"Companies are beginning to understand that the value of corporate social responsibility programmes is not only the opportunity to do the right thing but that it's good for business as well. The Access to Medicine Index provides companies with a chance to improve performance and explore new business models while helping societies in need."
Knut Kjaer - Former CEO of RiskMetrics Group, Former CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) (1997-2007)
"I've been impressed by the Acces to Medicine Index. It presents well-balanced stakeholder views on good practices for the pharmaceutical industry and it provides clear standards against which the performance of individual companies can be judged."
Mary Robinson - President, Realizing Rights, Former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (1997-2002), Former President of Ireland (1990-1997)
"The Access to Medicine Index has proven to provide much-needed transparency into pharmaceutical industry actions and policies. That will ultimately lead to greater access to healthcare for millions of people all over the globe."
Herman Wijffels - Former Executive Director, World Bank (2006-2008), Former Chair of Rabobank (1999-2006)
"It is crucial for a CEO to have a dialogue with his/her company's stakeholders. The Access to Medicine Index stimulates this dialogue, which is essential to bring all parties together. For this reason I highly recommend other sectors use this model as well."
Anthony Ruys - Chairman Supervisory Board, STOP AIDS NOW, Former CEO of Heineken (1993-2006)
"By increasing transparency, the Access to Medicine Index creates an incentive for pharmaceutical companies to invest in improved access to medicines and medical products for people worldwide."
Ben Knapen - Former Minister for European Affairs & International Cooperation, The Netherlands