Lääkeyritysten vastuullisuusraportit ja vastuullisuutta ohjaavat arvot kestävien julkisten lääkehankintojen edistämisen näkökulmasta : laadullinen tutkimus

Rational, or prudent, use of medicines is one of the cornerstones of Finnish politics guiding the public procurement of medicines as a part of the medicines supply. The definition of rational use of medicines, however, takes into account the sustainability aspects of neither the drugs used nor the manufacturers behind them even though, according to One Health way of thinking, there is a connection between the sustainability of medicines and people's health. Motivated by this contradiction, the aim of the research was to map the different dimensions and usability of the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports of pharmaceutical companies in promoting the sustainable public procurement of medicines. The values guiding the companies' sustainability actions and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the companies were also researched. The materials consisted of CSR reports from years 2019-2020 of seven pharmaceutical companies that participated in public drug procurement in 2019. Two classification systems for sustainability and key performance indicators presented in previous research literature were used as a theoretical basis. Public procurement of medicines was used as a framework through which the research was carried out by using the means of qualitative content analysis. The CSR reports typically discussed the company, the environment, people, stakeholders, ethics and CSR reporting itself. CSR activities completed in the financial year in question consisted mostly of social sustainability. As for the environmental issues, emissions and climate issues played a great role. Governance-related CSR actions were the least reported and usually discussed risk management, research, and ethics. Success and pioneering, robustness and sustainability, and community spirit were recognized as themes uniting the values that guide CSR. As for in promoting sustainable public procurement, information about CSR activities, adoption of principles set by external stakeholders, CSR-related metadata, sustainability rankings, and management of sustainability in the supply chain, among other things, were found potential. The CSR reports of pharmaceutical companies contain comprehensive information about the companies’ operations, response to global trends and the values guiding the CSR activities. The use of CSR reports in public procurement of medicines necessitates further uniformity of CSR reporting practices in the pharmaceutical industry.