HEINEKEN honoured for global health practices

Last night, HEINEKEN received the prestigious GBCHealth Business Leadership Award at GBCHealth’s annual conference in New York City. HEINEKEN has been selected to receive this award by GBCHealth for its enduring commitment to and excellence in its support for health-related programming for its employees, their dependents and the communities in which it operates.

John Tedstrom, CEO GBCHealth, stated: “Heineken is an unsung hero in Global Health. It is a corporate leader who has dedicated its energy, attention and resources over more than two decades to tackling some of the most challenging global health issues of our time. From the company’s first HIV awareness and prevention programs in 1989 to its decision in 2001 to offer HIV care services as part of its employee medical benefits package (a program many other companies have since replicated), to being an integral voice in shaping critical policy efforts, Heineken has been a trailblazer in the global health space going above and beyond its core business to address issues that other companies find difficult to address.”

Stefaan van der Borght, Global Director Health Affairs HEINEKEN, said: “We are extremely honoured with this award. At HEINEKEN people are our greatest assets. No other asset in the company is as important as the people that contribute with their work to our business results. Therefore, HEINEKEN commits itself to provide a healthy working environment for all employees, contractors working on its premises and for those hired by HEINEKEN further along the supply chain. We have been actively focusing on health care of our employees and communities for over twenty years now and will continue to do so going forward. At the same time we realise our health care work has only just begun.”

HEINEKEN operates in many different countries. Particularly in the area of healthcare, being a multinational company means taking on responsibilities and actively contributing to the development of societies. HEINEKEN is active in helping combat the world’s poverty diseases: malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Its HIV/AIDS programme is an important and integrated part of HEINEKEN’s healthcare initiatives, aimed at both prevention and access to anti-retroviral drugs.

At the end of 2007 HEINEKEN launched the Heineken Africa Foundation in order to support the improvement of health for communities in sub-Saharan Africa. HEINEKEN has endowed the Foundation with EUR 20 million, which allows up to EUR 1 million per year to be invested in relevant health projects and health-related education. To date, the Foundation has committed EUR 3 million which supports 33 projects.