Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, many businesses have initiated new activities presented as altruistic or socially responsible, while others are seeking ways to influence or benefit from government responses to the crisis. While some of these activities may provide limited benefits (e.g. by making essential products available), many may actually increase the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in the population and/or undermine broader development goals.
This is particularly the case where businesses’ core products and activities are harmful to health – such as companies associated with ‘unhealthy commodities’ such as tobacco, alcohol, ultra-processed food and beverages, gambling, and fossil fuels.
NCD Alliance (NCDA) and the
SPECTRUM research consortium are collecting examples of activities undertaken or presented by businesses as a response to the COVID-19 crisis – including corporate social responsibility initiatives, philanthropy, new marketing campaigns, and engagement in policy debates - which members of the NCDA network around the world have been raising concerns about since the start of the pandemic response.
Share examples through survey tool here
This survey will only take a few minutes and is available in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese, and can be completed multiple times. We are collecting examples identified from 30th January 2020 (when the WHO declared COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern).
Explore the map updated weekly with new examples from around the world here
The examples collected are populating a map of these industries’ responses to the COVID-19 pandemic across countries and across industries.
Analysis - watch this space
