The race to meet the health-related U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the post-2015 development agenda “requires new thinking and fresh commitments from across all sectors — including industry, governments, multilaterals, [non-governmental organizations (NGOs)], and other organizations — to cross-sector partnerships that drive systemwide change,” Eduardo Pisani, director general of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), and Aron Cramer, president and CEO of Business Social Responsibility (BSR), write in the Huffington Post’s “Social Entrepreneurship” blog. “Since the MDGs’ launch in 2000, the number of cross-sector partnerships aimed at advancing health-related goals and involving the pharmaceutical industry has increased dramatically,” they write, adding, “By bringing together a broad set of stakeholders from the private sector and beyond, pharmaceutical companies initiated and contributed to partnerships tackling many of the barriers that have blocked progress on health goals.”

Pisani and Cramer discuss an analysis of global health partnerships by BSR, noting the progress on infectious diseases and saying more must be done to address non-communicable diseases (NCDs). They highlight “the Guiding Principles on Access to Healthcare — a call to action and framework for driving progress that was shaped by BSR and signed by 13 pharmaceutical CEOs earlier this year.” They conclude, “As we prepare once again to answer the U.N.’s call for ‘the engagement of responsible business and civil society’ to achieve sustainable and inclusive development, we ask decision-makers and other potential contributors — from all sectors — to engage in multi-stakeholder dialogues together with the pharmaceutical industry. Together, we can set viable goals and plan in advance for the cross-sector partnerships that will drive their achievement” (9/19).