CVS Health today released its eighth annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, outlining the company's progress against its CSR strategy, Prescription for a Better World. President and CEO Larry Menlo stated that changing its name to CVS Health and no longer selling tobacco products reflect how the company is working to change the way health care is delivered. Menlo added that the company’s ultimate goal is to lower the cost, improve the quality of, and increase access to health care for patients and customers so they can live healthier lives.
Prescription for a Better World framework is organized around three key pillars: Health in Action, Planet in Balance, and Leader in Growth. Highlights from the report include:
- More than 83,000 patients received free health services through Project Health in 2014, valued at $8.3 million
- 70 grants totaling $5 million were awarded by the CVS Health Foundation
- 11% reduction in carbon intensity achieved toward goal of 15% by 2018
- 35,000 lbs of plastic bags were diverted from landfills through retail location recycling program
- 36% of waste was diverted through new recycling and composting programs throughout the grounds
Eileen Howard Boone, SVP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy, said: "Working through our new Prescription for a Better World framework, we have built a powerful cross-functional team of senior leaders and subject matter experts to identify both the opportunities we have to advance our social and environmental commitments, as well as potential constraints and challenges."
Also this week, CVS Health announced the launch of its second annual LUNG FORCE in-store fundraising campaign at all CVS/pharmacy locations and online, as part of the company's ongoing partnership with the American Lung Association.
From now through May 23, CVS/pharmacy customers can contribute to the fight against lung cancer when they donate $1, $3, or more to the American Lung Association's LUNG FORCE initiative at the register or online, CVS Health says.
CVS Health is the national presenting sponsor of LUNG FORCE, an initiative to make lung cancer a public health priority, drive policy change and increase research funding. Money raised through the in-store campaign will support health education and critical research that will lead to better treatment options and improved methods of early detection.
Last year, CVS/pharmacy helped to raise more than $3.6 million for LUNG FORCE in the campaign's first year, the company says.
In 2014, the American Lung Association announced the findings of the Women's Lung Health Barometer, a survey of more than 1,000 American adult women, which measured women's knowledge of and views about lung cancer. The findings showed that women's awareness of lung cancer's impact is extremely low — as much as 78 percent of women aren’t aware that lung cancer has killed more women than breast cancer since 1987.
In the last 37 years, the rate of new lung cancer cases has nearly doubled among women. And despite being the number-one cancer killer of women, only one percent of women cite lung cancer as a cancer that is top-of-mind.
Through nationwide efforts, LUNG FORCE works to change people's perceptions about what it means to have lung cancer so that everyone understands the risks.
Even after a major rebrand and the removal of lucrative tobacco products from its stores’ shelves, CVS Health achieved record sales in 2014 — increasing net revenues by 9.9 percent to $139.4 billion.
The pharmacy announced early last year the decision to stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products at its more than 7,600 stores across the U.S. by October 1, 2014. CVS said it expected to lose approximately $2 billion in revenues annually from the loss of tobacco sales, but claimed it had identified incremental opportunities to offset the profitability impact.
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Founder & Principal Consultant, Hower Impact
Mike Hower is the founder of Hower Impact — a boutique consultancy delivering best-in-class strategic communication advisory and support for corporate sustainability, ESG and climate tech.
Published May 7, 2015 5am EDT / 2am PDT / 10am BST / 11am CEST