title: Corporate social responsibility to improve access to medicines: the case of Brazil.
abstract: Access to medicines and the development of a strong national pharmaceutical industry are two longstanding pillars of health policy in Brazil. This is reflected in a clear emphasis by Brazil's Federal Government on improving access to medicine in national health plans and industrial policies aimed at promoting domestic pharmaceutical development. This research proposes that such policies may act as incentives for companies to pursue a strategic Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda. CSR that supports Governmental priorities could help companies to benefit significantly from the Governmental industrial policy. We sought to determine whether CSR activities of Brazilian pharmaceutical firms are currently aligned with the Federal Government's health prioritization. To do so we examined key Brazilian health related policies since 2004, including the specific priorities of Brazil's 2012-2015 Health Plan, and compared these with CSR initiatives that are reported on the websites of select pharmaceutical firms in Brazil.
  
  
  
  Brazil's national health plans and industrial policies demonstrated that the Federal Government has followed diverse approaches for improving access to medicines, including strengthening health care infrastructure, increasing transparency, and supporting product development partnerships. Case studies of six pharmaceutical firms, representing both public and private companies of varying size, support the perspective that CSR is a priority for firms. However, while many programs target issues such as health infrastructure, health care training, and drug donation, more programs focus on areas other than health and do not seem to be connected to Governmental prioritization.
  
  
  
  This research suggests that there are loose connections between Governmental priorities and pharmaceutical firm CSR. However, there remains a significant opportunity for greater alignment, which could improve access to medicines in the country and foster a stronger relationship between the Government and industry.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health Policy Mangement and Evaluation, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. halla.thorsteinsdottir@utoronto.ca.|Small Globe, Toronto, Canada. halla.thorsteinsdottir@utoronto.ca.
authors.forename: Halla
authors.identifier: 0000-0002-4841-2915
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Thorsteinsdóttir
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Queens University, Kingston, Canada.
authors.forename: Natasha
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ovtcharenko
authors.affiliation: Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.|Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
authors.forename: Jillian Clare
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Kohler
mesh_terms: D001938:Brazil; D004345:Drug Industry / Q000379:methods*; D040861:Ethics, Business; D006078:Government Programs / Q000191:economics / Q000379:methods; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D006297:Health Services Accessibility / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D012941:Social Responsibility
keywords: Access to Medicine; Brazil; Corporate Social Responsibility; Health policies; Industry-Government alignment; Pharmaceutical industrialization; Universal health care system