Human rights

Human Rights is one of our top priorities, reflecting our commitment to making sure that we continue to drive and share best practice across all our activity. This is particularly important as we re-shape our organisation, grow our business in new and emerging markets and increase outsourcing around the world.

Our Code of Conduct, supporting policies and global employment standards outline our long-standing commitment to supporting the UN principles of Human Rights and the high standards of employment we require across the company. These include respecting diversity and, as a minimum, complying with national legal requirements regarding wages and working hours. We also support the International Labour Organisation's (ILO) standards regarding child labour and minimum age. All eligible employees have the right to be a member of a trade union. We have agreements with trade unions in a number of countries where collective bargaining is customary practice; is within a country’s legal framework, and is supported by employees. We are also committed to working only with suppliers who embrace standards of ethical behaviour that our consistent with our own.

United Nations Global Compact (UNGC)

AstraZeneca is a signatory to the UNGC, a strategic public-private initiative for organisations committed to social and environmental sustainability. This means that we have committed to uphold ten internationally recognised principles in the areas of human rights, labour standards, environmental sustainability and anti-corruption. These are long-standing principles for AstraZeneca (as described in our Code of Conduct and global policies but being part of the Global Compact reinforces how seriously we take them. It also gives us the framework for further developing our approach.

In recent years, we have also been participating in a project led by the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), working with the pharmaceutical industry to develop a human rights assessment tool for pharmaceutical companies, based on the Institute’s existing Human Rights Compliance Tool. The first pharmaceutical industry version of the tool was launched in November 2010, and we used the employment section to conduct a labour review in 11 of our marketing companies - including some countries where national labour standards are not consistent with global best practice.

The review focused on ILO core areas (freedom of association and collective bargaining, forced and bonded labour, child labour, discrimination and working time and wages).

Building on the experience of this first review, we adapted and simplified the employment section of the DIHR assessment tool and, during the remainder of 2011, conducted a labour review in every country where AstraZeneca has employees.

The results of the review are currently being collated and analysed to identify what we are doing well and where we may need to improve. Early indications are that our practices are in the main consistent across all countries, based on our requirement that our global standards are applied when external national standards do not meet AstraZeneca’s minimum standards. However, we are working to confirm this and identify any gaps. Any improvements required will be included in our local people strategies in the relevant countries.

Also in 2011, the DIHR in collaboration with AstraZeneca, GSK, Novartis and Merck established the Human Rights Assessment Tool for Pharmaceuticals Companies (HRAPC) Forum. The Forum is a means of sharing information, experience and best practice, helping members to better understand what it means to integrate human rights into daily business practice and to further clarify human rights responsibilities for pharmaceutical companies.

We have developed a global approach and framework for progressing our human rights agenda, including defined accountabilities and responsibilities and an action plan to ensure that human rights continue to be appropriately integrated into our strategies, policies and processes.

Overall accountability for progressing the human rights agenda within AstraZeneca is shared between our Global Human Resources function and our Global Corporate Responsibility Team who work to ensure that human rights issues continue to be appropriately integrated into responsible business strategies across the organisation.

For information about our commitment in human rights-related areas, please visit:

• Our people
• Access to healthcare
• Sales & marketing practice
• Clinical trials
• Working with suppliers
• Codes, policies & standards

Right to health

We believe that it is governments who are accountable for providing a robust healthcare infrastructure for their populations – one that supports good public health and can ensure that medicines are delivered to those who need them. However, we recognise that as a global biopharmaceutical company, we have a role to play. Alongside our dedicated TB research, we continue to partner with non-governmental organisations and other organisations to help strengthen local healthcare capabilities.