The Halo Effect

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Merck's success in Botswana and similar CSR successes by other companies around the globe raise an interesting question: might businesses be better at aid than traditional NGOs and charities? There's reason to suppose they might be. After all, businesses the size of Merck are capable of marshaling greater medical expertise and more resources than any one NGO, and they are obsessed with results and efficiency.

Merck's partner in ACHAP, the Gates Foundation, has ruffled many NGO feathers by imposing the same standards of accountability and transparency used by business on projects it funds — and cutting off those who don't comply. "There's been a paradigm shift in how people view the potential contribution of the private sector," says Dr. Nick Hellman, who made an inspection of ACHAP in August on behalf of the Gates Foundation. "They have the knowledge and the experience. Most drug companies have specific programs geared toward global health issues. If you're trying to distribute drugs, who do you go to? To the people who make them. For many of these problems, you have to get the private sector involved in these issues to have any kind of solution." Or, as Merck's Sturchio puts it: "MSF don't do drug discovery."

Merck, naturally, expects benefits from its good work. Sturchio acknowledges that CSR is becoming a non-negotiable requirement for any large corporation hoping to operate in the developing world. "Simply complying with regulations is not enough," he says. "Society expects more." Healthy societies are good for all kinds of business. "You could say that one reason we do this kind of work is that in the long run healthy people boost economic development, which will create robust markets for Merck products," says Sturchio. "Health leads to wealth, and there is a long-term benefit to our business." Nevertheless, Sturchio contends that Merck's primary motivation for its CSR work is "because it's the right thing to do. It makes our employees proud ... People always underestimate the amount of altruism among those who work for companies." Adds Hellman: "A lot of people in the private sector are genuinely concerned about issues like AIDS and TB. And our experience is that this is not a Trojan horse [for their corporate interests]. There's little money in it." In the end, says Sturchio, "Even if people disagree on the means, we can all agree on the end. And the world has no chance of solving these global health issues if we cannot get everybody working together on them."

The acid test is on the ground. Next to a red-dust sports field in the center of Botswana's capital Gaborone, ACHAP conducts HIV tests and performs basic medical examinations in a portable cabin. John Furala Kahindi, 36, is a volunteer who runs packed-out basketball and fitness programs targeted at the young. He works closely with ACHAP. It laid his basketball court — even bringing NBA stars to open it — and in return he funnels his charges to the cabin for regular tests, blood donations and counseling. As a passionate sportsman whose love for the game led him to quit his old life as a merchant sailor, he is only interested in results. "Some organizations talk a lot, but they don't do much," he says. "I've worked with a lot of NGOs, looking for support. But they say, 'We don't do that, we only do this.' It doesn't take much to provide something to bring the youth together and teach them about AIDS. It just takes a basketball court. ACHAP understood that. And they built it." Maybe running a drug company in Africa need not be so bad after all.