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Abbott Laboratories

Interview with Kathy Pickus, Director of Global Citizenship and Policy

Background

Headquartered in Abbott Park, Illinois, Abbott discovers, develops, manufactures and markets pharmaceuticals and medical products, including nutritionals, devices and diagnostics. The company has over 100 facilities around the world and our products are sold in more than 130 countries.

Abbott's philanthropic initiatives fall within its Global Citizenship and Policy organization and focuses primarily on three areas: Global health disparities; Medical science and innovation; Vitality of communities.

How did Abbott decide on these three strategic areas?

As a global research-based health care organization, we focus on where our expertise, products and people will have the greatest impact and do the most good. We're also committed to the vitality of communities where our employees live and work.

What are examples of grants or projects that reflect Abbott's strategic areas?

One major global health challenge is HIV/AIDS and its impact on children. We worked with the Baylor College of Medicine to establish the Romanian-American Children's Center, the first pediatric AIDS clinic in Romania. Dr. Kline is a professor of pediatrics at Baylor who worked with us to provide care and antiretroviral treatment to hundreds of Romanian children infected with HIV. In just the past 4 years, services provided by the center have decreased the mortality rate of HIV-positive children in Constanta, Romania from 15% to 1%. This program is a good example of how we can effectively direct the full range of Abbott's resources: we provided financial assistance to build the Center; our medical expertise contributed to developing effective treatment programs, and we donated our HIV medicine, Kaletra, (a protease inhibitor) to help the children survive. Based on the tremendous success we experienced in Romania, Abbott is funding another Baylor pediatric AIDS clinic in Malawi. And we're really pleased that this model has now been replicated by other donors in six more countries in Africa.

In the area of science and innovation, Abbott is lending significant scientific expertise to the Institute for OneWorld Health, a not-for-profit pharmaceutical company. Abbott is sharing our top scientists with the Institute to help further the discovery of new, effective, low cost treatments for malaria. We are also donating artesunate, a critical substance in their effort to develop new treatment options for malaria.

HABLA, Healthcare Access by Language Advocacy, is a wonderful community program that provides training to bilingual citizens to serve as health translators for Spanish speaking patients. Currently, the program is being run at the Health Reach Clinic, a free clinic for disadvantaged citizens of Lake County, Illinois. Abbott is providing support to the clinic to expand the number of translators trained so that these services can be offered to patients at hospitals and clinics throughout Lake County and hopefully beyond.

How have Abbott's priorities evolved over time? Have these strategic areas been consistent?

We have sharpened our focus over time. We are interested in working with organizations that are developing creative solutions for addressing barriers to health care or new ways to encourage learning in science. Part of our mission is to invest in bold ideas and share key learnings from our grants.

How does the changing global context affect Abbott's priorities and grant making practices? Have they changed in response to changes in the global environment? If so, what are some examples?

It is the demand and immediacy of the need that drive Abbott's responses to the changing global environment. One recent example is our response to the Asian tsunami in December 2004. Abbott had what was needed immediately after disaster struck—antibiotics and re-hydration solutions, in particular. Working through established reputable relief organizations like AmeriCares, Direct Relief International (DRI) and Project HOPE, we were able to rapidly provide key products that enabled them to respond quickly where the need was most urgent. In the case of AmeriCares, we were able to get antibiotics and nutritionals to Sri Lanka within 72 hours. As a result of our efforts, we have helped more than 100,000 people to date and continue to be there for people in need through the reconstruction phase of the recovery effort, providing more than $5.5 million in aid relief.

What do you consider especially innovative or creative in Abbott's philanthropic activities?

We work with local organizations to develop comprehensive approaches for meeting local health care needs, often involving the direct contributions of specialized Abbott employee volunteers. For example, Abbott is working with the Government of Tanzania to transform the country's public health care system to provide lifelong care for people living with HIV/AIDS and other serious illnesses.

Tanzania Care, as we call the project, is addressing areas of critical need in improving patient care, including training medical workers and lab personnel; expanding access to voluntary HIV testing and counseling; strengthening "back office" hospital functions such as financial management and patient information systems; and modernizing facilities. This includes a new outpatient center and state-of-the-art lab with IT systems. And Abbott's expert employee volunteers have made significant contributions in many areas, including construction, engineering, infection control and IT.

What have been some of the greatest lessons that Abbott has learned in its philanthropic and social investment work? What lessons would you share with other corporate donors? With individual donors or family foundations?

The key lessons from our experiences that we would share include: Be focused, and don't try to do everything; Pick good partners and listen to them; Don't be afraid to take risks and to be innovative

What is Abbott's unique role as a global funder? What niche is Abbott filling in the global funding environment?

We are trying to focus on programs that can be seeded from Abbott's expertise and investment. For example, our work with Dr. Kline in Romania shows that innovative, locally based programs can continue to flourish with or without Abbott.

What are the emerging issues and trends that Abbott will be concerned about? What issues and trends should other donors be aware of?

Some emerging issues we look at are access to health care, education about disease and focusing on solutions.

We are encouraged to see more people and more institutions than ever before getting involved in addressing the world's most critical global health concerns. There is a heightened sense of urgency among diverse groups of people all around the world—a trend we all hope will continue to grow.

For more information, please visit Abbott at: www.abbott.com/citizenship

For information on other international grantmakers, please visit Illinois Funding Source at: http://ifs.donorsforum.org. Please note that there is a subscription charge to use this resource.

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