Corporate Responsibility Report 2008

Treating ill health

We help to treat ill health by developing medicines and consumer healthcare products.

We are also working with governments and employers in the US to find innovative ways to reduce the impact of chronic diseases.

Our pharmaceutical products target diseases in the following areas:

Anti-bacterials (antibiotics) and anti-malarials: infections, malaria
Anti-virals: HIV/AIDS, herpes, hepatitis B, influenza
Cardiovascular: heart failure, hypertension, deep vein thrombosis
Central nervous system: migraine, epilepsy, anxiety, depression, Parkinson’s disease, smoking cessation, anaesthesia, analgesia, anti-emetics
Dermatology: eczema, dermatitis, psoriasis
Metabolic: diabetes, osteoporosis, obesity
Oncology: breast, cervical, lung and ovarian cancer, non-Hodgkins lymphoma, leukaemia, idiopathic thrombocytopaenic purpura
Respiratory and immuno-inflammation: asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, rhinitis, post-operative ileus
Urogenital: prostatic hypertrophy, over-active bladder

We also make vaccines which prevent serious diseases.

Our products help to improve health in a number of ways:

Prolonging life – our anti-retrovirals (ARVs) such as Combivir help patients to control the effects of HIV infection for many years. We sell our ARVs to the Least Developed Countries and to countries in sub-Saharan Africa at not-for-profit prices. Read more about our efforts to increase access to medicines
Preventing complications – many diseases such as diabetes are progressive if patients do not receive the right treatment they can suffer severe complications. For example, every day in the US diabetes is the cause of an estimated 225 lower limb amputations, up to 66 cases of blindness, and 117 people experiencing kidney failure. Avandia, our diabetes treatment, helps patients to control their symptoms, delays the progression of the disease and prevents complications. Avandia has now been used by more than seven million people worldwide.
Improving quality of life – many of our medicines such as those for asthma and diabetes help patients with chronic diseases live full and productive lives. GSK preventative treatments for asthma such as Seretide/Advair control the symptoms of asthma and prevent asthma attacks
Curing infection – we produce antibiotics that treat respiratory tract and other infections. We donate antibiotics to help relief efforts in disaster areas

Paracetamol

Paracetamol is widely used as a low-cost medicine for treating adult and child pain and fever, and is listed as one of the World Health Organization’s essential medicines.

GSK produces ten billion tablets each year of our over-the-counter paracetomol product, Panadol, which is available in more than 85 countries. This includes low- and middle-income countries, where we provide more affordable low-cost single-dose packs.

Medical guidelines across the globe recommend paracetamol, the medicine in Panadol, as the first-line oral painkiller for chronic diseases such as osteoarthritis due to its efficacy, safety profile and cost-effectiveness. It is also a first-choice treatment for other conditions such as headache, backache and children’s fever.

Paracetamol is the recommended treatment for the symptoms of dengue fever, a debilitating and life-threatening disease that is transmitted by mosquitoes in tropical and sub-tropical regions. More than 2.5 billion people are at risk for infection – two-fifths of the world’s population – in over 100 countries.

Read about our efforts to increase awareness of dengue fever and correct treatment