Assessing the health impact of transnational corporations: its importance and a framework
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Date
2016
Authors
Baum, Fran
Sanders, David
Fisher, Matthew
Anaf, Julia Margaret
Freudenberg, N
Friel, S
Labonte, Ronald
London, L
Monteiro, C
Scott-Samuel, A
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
BioMed Central
Rights
Copyright © 2016 The Author(s).
Rights Holder
The Author(s).
Abstract
Background: The adverse health and equity impacts of transnational corporations’ (TNCs) practices have become
central public health concerns as TNCs increasingly dominate global trade and investment and shape national
economies. Despite this, methodologies have been lacking with which to study the health equity impacts of
individual corporations and thus to inform actions to mitigate or reverse negative and increase positive impacts.
Methods: This paper reports on a framework designed to conduct corporate health impact assessment (CHIA),
developed at a meeting held at the Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center in May 2015.
Results: On the basis of the deliberations at the meeting it was recommended that the CHIA should be based on ex
post assessment and follow the standard HIA steps of screening, scoping, identification, assessment, decision-making
and recommendations. A framework to conduct the CHIA was developed and designed to be applied to a TNC’s
practices internationally, and within countries to enable comparison of practices and health impacts in different
settings. The meeting participants proposed that impacts should be assessed according to the TNC’s global and
national operating context; its organisational structure, political and business practices (including the type, distribution
and marketing of its products); and workforce and working conditions, social factors, the environment, consumption
patterns, and economic conditions within countries.
Conclusion: We anticipate that the results of the CHIA will be used by civil society for capacity building and advocacy
purposes, by governments to inform regulatory decision-making, and by TNCs to lessen their negative health impacts
on health and fulfil commitments made to corporate social responsibility.
Description
Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and
reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to
the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver
(http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.
Keywords
Health impact assessment, Health inequalities, Public health policy, Health promotion, Methodology
Citation
Baum FE, Sanders DM, Fisher M, Anaf J, Freudenberg N, Friel S, Labonte R, London L, Monteiro C, Scott-Samuel A, Sen A. Assessing the health impact of transnational corporations: its importance and a framework. Global Health. 2016 Jun 15;12(1):27. doi: 10.1186/s12992-016-0164-x.