Health Equity

ICCR's Health Equity program seeks to improve community health. Corporations have an obligation to advance health equity and to assess how their business operations, services, and products may contribute to health inequities, in line with the corporate responsibility to respect human rights. The rights to health and well-being are enshrined in international human rights frameworks, including the UN Declaration on Human Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights.   

For decades, ICCR members have engaged leading pharmaceutical companies on concerns related to access and affordability of medicines, vaccines, and other health technologies. Most recently, their focus has been on equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines and therapies and how patent misuse may inhibit access to medicines.  Their members also press food and beverage companies, casual restaurant chains, and retailers to increase their offerings of affordable, nutritious foods to improve health outcomes worldwide.  

Investor Alliance Collaboration 

The Investor Alliance engages with ICCR's Health Equity program through the intersection of health, tech, and human rights. Together, we challenge technology companies to prevent and mitigate the algorithmic harms and biases that occur through the use of AI in healthcare settings. Companies that create and market healthcare technologies such as clinical support decision tools and electronic health records have a responsibility to ensure these products don’t unintentionally contribute to or exacerbate healthcare inequities or discriminatory practices. Despite several attempts by government agencies to enact accountability policies, the tech industry’s impact on the healthcare sector remains largely unregulated, creating and exacerbating structural racism, particularly against BIPOC, low-income, and Queer and gender non-conforming communities. 

Current initiatives  

Through a combination of dialogue and the filing of shareholder proposals, ICCR's members are seeking to improve community health.  

For more information, please visit ICCR's Health Equity program page or contact Meg Jones-Monteiro.