Last week, Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Bill Weldon and other senior leaders participated in meetings at the United Nations and Clinton Global Initiative designed to address some of the world’s most complicated issues that are too large and complex for any one single entity to solve, ranging from poverty to hunger to global health. Johnson & Johnson has been working with the UN on these goals since we responded to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s call to action last year, and this year we reported on our significant progress against those commitments. Today, our Chairman and CEO Bill Weldon shared the following letter with all Johnson & Johnson employees worldwide. I wanted to share with you what he wrote:
To: The Employees of the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Last week, members of our Executive Committee and others at Johnson & Johnson joined meetings at the United Nations and Clinton Global Initiative, where some of the world’s toughest global health problems were discussed.
Listening to plans for improving health around the world and reporting on our Company’s commitments to this goal really drove home for me the role we play as a global health care company and the difference all of you make in so many people’s lives.
We reported on work to eradicate intestinal worms in children, help babies breathe at birth, prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV, advance R&D for HIV and tuberculosis, build healthcare infrastructure and give pregnant women in some of the poorest areas of the world the information they need for safe deliveries and healthy babies.
We also announced new commitments in these areas and additional efforts to help stem the tide of chronic non-communicable disease -- in particular, ending smoking and the use of tobacco. Slowing the rise in chronic diseases is critical to the world’s human and economic progress.
The stories and the challenges we heard were humbling, but I was filled with pride knowing the impact you have every day in bringing to the world better treatments for so many diseases and health conditions -- from diabetes, cancer and heart disease to bone fractures, pain and allergies.
The important work we do as Johnson & Johnson is complimented and strengthened by increasing partnerships with governments, UN agencies, non-governmental organizations, foundations, community groups, academics and experts around the world. This is a new model of cooperation designed to help ensure that our collective efforts make a lasting and meaningful difference.
We are at the table with world leaders because of our enduring commitment to health over the past 125 years and our determination to continue to advance the health and well-being of people around the world. We should all take great pride in being part of such a mission.
Respectfully yours,
Bill Weldon Chairman and Chief Executive Officer