Public policy and patient advocacy

We engage with governments, policymakers, multilateral agencies, and professional associations to advocate for policies that protect the interests of patients, while supporting our business. We also engage with and support patient groups to gain insights from patients, to help us develop products and advocate for policies that better meet their needs.

We aim to demonstrate that all our interactions with political stakeholders and patient advocacy groups are conducted appropriately, ethically and transparently. Our new Global Standard for Interactions with Patient Organisations gives clarity on our approach.

Political advocacy

We interact regularly with governments, policymakers and other stakeholders to advocate for policies that encourage innovation, promote efficient management of healthcare spending and give patients the support they need. All employees involved in lobbying activities must follow the relevant requirements set out in our Code of Conduct. We also expect any third-party policy groups that engage on our behalf to share our values and we have comprehensive criteria to guide the selection of these groups.  We register lobbying costs on the EU Transparency Register and the US Federal Lobbying Register.

Read our Responsible Business Supplement for more detail.  

Patient advocacy

Medicines and vaccines bring significant benefits for individual patients and for public health. In order to realise these benefits we need to interact with external groups throughout the research, development and marketing of our medicines and vaccines. This enables us to use the expertise of patients, scientists, doctors and other healthcare professionals to better understand how to conduct the most effective research, how to make treatment advances and how to meet patient needs. In some instances these interactions involve GSK providing funding to an organisation or an individual. We know these relationships can cause concern and we therefore aim to be transparent about the payments we make and what they are for.

Patient group funding

We provide funding to patient groups to help with day-to-day running costs and defined events or activities. Our support also includes educational assistance, training for staff, and collaboration on disease awareness and prevention projects. Our relationships with patient groups help us to better understand patient needs and their illnesses, which guides our R&D. In turn, our support helps patient opinions to be heard in the healthcare debate. 

Find details of our work with patient groups in our US, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Emerging Markets regions, as well as what funding we provide for patient groups working globally.