International Corporate Responsibility Series

Volume 3, 2007

Controversies in International Corporate Responsibility

Fighting HIV/AIDS
The Role of the Pharmaceutical Industry and the Sustainability of its Actions in Sub-Saharan Africa—An Empirical Investigation

Since the first diagnosis of an HIV infection in 1956, the number of victims infected with the virus has dramatically increased to 40.3 million in 2005. The countries of sub-Saharan Africa carry the largest burden of HIV/AIDS worldwide. Various programs against the spread of the epidemic in this region have been promised. The objective of this article is to analyze to what extent these programs can achieve a sustainable effect. This article examines in detail the sustainability of thirteen programmes initiated by large American and European pharmaceutical companies. It finds that none of the examined programs offers a fully sustainable solution. However, programs that were organized in cooperation with local authorities or organizations appear suitable to reach sustainable effects in high-prevalence countries. As a result, cooperation seems to be an important prerequisite to implement the infrastructural measures necessary to guarantee sustainable effects in sub-Saharan Africa.