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Coca-Cola's funding of health research and partnerships
Editorial
Wang Lei/Xinhua Press/Corbis
Towards 2030: counting and accountability matter
See Comment page 1313 See Series pages 1373, 1386, 1395, and 1407 See Online/Comment http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(15)00400-6
For the Bloomberg DFAT initiative see http://www. bloomberg.org/press/releases/ bloomberg-philanthropieslaunches-100-million-datahealth-program-developingcountries/
The UN Summit for the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concluded last week amid ongoing criticism and open admission that the private sector heavily influenced the process. The SDGs, however, are here to stay, and provide an opportunity for broader accountability in health and development. Many of the targets under SDG goal three “to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages”, rely directly on measures of mortality. These include reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000 livebirths, and reducing neonatal mortality to at least 12 per 1000 livebirths and under-5 mortality to 25 per 1000 livebirths. Additional challenges include reducing by a third the preventable mortality of non-communicable disease, halving the number of global deaths from traffic accidents, and substantially reducing the number of deaths from environmental hazards and violence of all forms. But where are the data systems to measure progress against these goals? Measuring progress in health relies on data on death, particularly accurate causes of death to guide policy
responses. Discussion of SDG indicators cannot be divorced from the organisations that undertake data collection reported in a Comment by Chris Murray in this issue. Also in this issue of The Lancet, Alan Lopez, Carla AbouZahr, and colleagues report in the Counting Births and Deaths Series, that a deplorable 60% of deaths go unaccounted for worldwide, and of those recorded, one in four are assigned to vague or ill-defined causes. They make the compelling call that strong civil registration and vital statistics systems are the long neglected core of good health information systems and are crucial to sustainable development. The recently announced joint initiative by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to strengthen civil registration systems in countries is, among others, a welcome response to this call. The SDGs challenge all of us to monitor progress towards improved human and planetary health. Building strong civil registration systems, thereby protecting the right to an identity and strengthening global health security, is one critical answer to this challenge. The Lancet
Andy Richter/Aurora Photos/Corbis
Coca-Cola’s funding of health research and partnerships
For the Coca-Cola funding disclosure see http://www.cocacolacompany.com/transparencysearch?noCache=true For The New York Times article see http://well.blogs.nytimes. com/2015/09/22/coke-disclosesmillions-in-grants-for-healthresearch-and-communityprograms/?_r=0
1312
In a bid to increase transparency, Coca-Cola has disclosed spending US$118·6 million in the past 5 years on scientific research and health and wellbeing partnerships. In a list of organisations funded by Coca-Cola, published on Sept 22, they reveal several influential medical organisations that have received funding, including the American Cancer Society, which received roughly $2 million, the American College of Cardiology, which received roughly $3·1 million, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, as detailed in an article published on Sept 22 in The New York Times. Coca-Cola has previously given an unrestricted gift to the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN), which promotes the energy balance model as a framework to prevent obesity. The energy balance model states that weight gain is caused by an imbalance between the amount of calories in and out. GEBN further mention that “not many people can sustain energy balance at a low level of physical activity (maintaining a sedentary lifestyle and eating fewer calories)”. The prevalence of obesity is high, with roughly 600 million adults worldwide classified as obese in 2014
and cases of type 2 diabetes are expected to increase in the next decade. With the substantial burden of these diseases, medical organisations and health researchers are exposing themselves to potential conflicts of interest by accepting funding from food and beverage manufacturers because of the known role of regular consumption of sugary, energy-dense beverages in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems. Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America, stated that the financial support of these institutions was made with the best intentions to “support solutions to the public health issues facing people across the United States and around the world”. But, ultimately, the goals of Coca-Cola and those of medical organisations and health researchers that wish to improve public health are very different. Moreover, medical health professionals must guard against any possible conflict or perceived conflict when working towards the overarching goal of improving public health and preventing non-communicable diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. The Lancet www.thelancet.com Vol 386 October 3, 2015
Wang Lei/Xinhua Press/Corbis
Towards 2030: counting and accountability matter
See Comment page 1313 See Series pages 1373, 1386, 1395, and 1407 See Online/Comment http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S0140-6736(15)00400-6
For the Bloomberg DFAT initiative see http://www. bloomberg.org/press/releases/ bloomberg-philanthropieslaunches-100-million-datahealth-program-developingcountries/
The UN Summit for the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) concluded last week amid ongoing criticism and open admission that the private sector heavily influenced the process. The SDGs, however, are here to stay, and provide an opportunity for broader accountability in health and development. Many of the targets under SDG goal three “to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all ages”, rely directly on measures of mortality. These include reducing the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100 000 livebirths, and reducing neonatal mortality to at least 12 per 1000 livebirths and under-5 mortality to 25 per 1000 livebirths. Additional challenges include reducing by a third the preventable mortality of non-communicable disease, halving the number of global deaths from traffic accidents, and substantially reducing the number of deaths from environmental hazards and violence of all forms. But where are the data systems to measure progress against these goals? Measuring progress in health relies on data on death, particularly accurate causes of death to guide policy
responses. Discussion of SDG indicators cannot be divorced from the organisations that undertake data collection reported in a Comment by Chris Murray in this issue. Also in this issue of The Lancet, Alan Lopez, Carla AbouZahr, and colleagues report in the Counting Births and Deaths Series, that a deplorable 60% of deaths go unaccounted for worldwide, and of those recorded, one in four are assigned to vague or ill-defined causes. They make the compelling call that strong civil registration and vital statistics systems are the long neglected core of good health information systems and are crucial to sustainable development. The recently announced joint initiative by Bloomberg Philanthropies and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to strengthen civil registration systems in countries is, among others, a welcome response to this call. The SDGs challenge all of us to monitor progress towards improved human and planetary health. Building strong civil registration systems, thereby protecting the right to an identity and strengthening global health security, is one critical answer to this challenge. The Lancet
Andy Richter/Aurora Photos/Corbis
Coca-Cola’s funding of health research and partnerships
For the Coca-Cola funding disclosure see http://www.cocacolacompany.com/transparencysearch?noCache=true For The New York Times article see http://well.blogs.nytimes. com/2015/09/22/coke-disclosesmillions-in-grants-for-healthresearch-and-communityprograms/?_r=0
1312
In a bid to increase transparency, Coca-Cola has disclosed spending US$118·6 million in the past 5 years on scientific research and health and wellbeing partnerships. In a list of organisations funded by Coca-Cola, published on Sept 22, they reveal several influential medical organisations that have received funding, including the American Cancer Society, which received roughly $2 million, the American College of Cardiology, which received roughly $3·1 million, and the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, as detailed in an article published on Sept 22 in The New York Times. Coca-Cola has previously given an unrestricted gift to the Global Energy Balance Network (GEBN), which promotes the energy balance model as a framework to prevent obesity. The energy balance model states that weight gain is caused by an imbalance between the amount of calories in and out. GEBN further mention that “not many people can sustain energy balance at a low level of physical activity (maintaining a sedentary lifestyle and eating fewer calories)”. The prevalence of obesity is high, with roughly 600 million adults worldwide classified as obese in 2014
and cases of type 2 diabetes are expected to increase in the next decade. With the substantial burden of these diseases, medical organisations and health researchers are exposing themselves to potential conflicts of interest by accepting funding from food and beverage manufacturers because of the known role of regular consumption of sugary, energy-dense beverages in obesity, type 2 diabetes, and other health problems. Sandy Douglas, president of Coca-Cola North America, stated that the financial support of these institutions was made with the best intentions to “support solutions to the public health issues facing people across the United States and around the world”. But, ultimately, the goals of Coca-Cola and those of medical organisations and health researchers that wish to improve public health are very different. Moreover, medical health professionals must guard against any possible conflict or perceived conflict when working towards the overarching goal of improving public health and preventing non-communicable diseases, such as obesity and type 2 diabetes. The Lancet www.thelancet.com Vol 386 October 3, 2015