2006/2007 was a strong year for the GHI. Our efforts to encourage the business community to play a critical role in finding solutions to the problems of AIDS, TB and malaria, have delivered impressive results.

One initiative, the 'Beyond Big Business Partnership', saw participation from large global companies such as Eskom, Heineken, Standard Chartered Bank, Unilever and Volkswagen. With support from the GHI, each company joined forces with some of their suppliers in Africa to reach approximately 50,000 people with lifesaving HIV/AIDS awareness, prevention and treatment-intervention programmes.

In India, Reliance Industries, TATA Steel, Becton Dickinson, Novartis, Aditya Birla, Jubilant Organosys and Eli Lilly, joined the India Business Alliance to Stop TB (IBA). In a classic example of public-private partnership in action, these companies worked with the World Health Organisation, the Global Partnership to Stop TB and India’s Ministry of Health and Confederation of Indian Industry, to help the IBA reach an estimate of four million people with a combination of workplace and community programmes.

The China Health Alliance (CHA) saw adidas, Standard Chartered Bank, Swire Beverages and Pfizer work with the UN and the Chinese Government on tackling HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis. Launched in September 2006, the CHA commits to providing advocacy and education on these diseases and access to testing and treatment to employees of engaged companies and a select number of their suppliers, with a special emphasis on migrant workers. Up to 5 million people could be reached at full scale-up if all engaged companies and their suppliers reach all of their employees, including their families and dependents.

June 2006 brought the launch of a GHI white paper called 'From Funding to Action: Strengthening Healthcare Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa', the first of its kind to highlight the potential role of business in this area. The GHI is currently working in partnership with Merck & Co., Becton Dickinson, Sudler & Hennessey, Accenture, AMREF and UNAIDS to develop a project that will demonstrate the report’s findings in practice.