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Robert Dintruff, director of global care initiatives at Abbott Laboratories, admits he has a budget problem. “We’ve put much more into Africa than we’ve gotten out,” he said. “And we’ll continue to distribute despite the budget shortfall.”
Dintruff, who spoke to the student-led Chicago Global Citizens group at the Hyde Park Center on October 18, said Abbott and the Abbott Fund (the philanthropic foundation the firm established) have invested $100 million over five years to help fight HIV/AIDS in the developing world. In Tanzania—one of the hardest-hit countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and one with limited capacity to cope—the firm and its philanthropic arm are putting money and resources into testing, treatment, training, counseling, and infrastructure.
The funds are spent without regard to profit. “Shareholders like a company that does the right thing,” Dintruff said.
Still, he described the need in Africa as “near-infinite.” “We get one million people into therapy, and three million more join the ranks in need. The faucet is flowing faster than the drain. The virus is outpacing us.”
Dintruff is charged with making his program scaleable and sustainable. For the past three to four years, Abbott has exceeded distribution expectations in Africa; it’s shipping two to three million rapid tests every month, a number that has doubled every year for the past three or more, and will continue to do so for another seven years. With such dramatic volume increases, Dintruff said Abbott is re-examining its model in Africa to see if production efficiencies and scale can provide a modest margin that will make its contribution more sustainable.
The fact that such companies as Abbott support programs is important for students to know, said second-year student Faisal Khan, a member of Chicago Global Citizens group and organizer of Dintruff’s talk. “Learning how a company reaps the ‘returns’ of investing in something that does not reap traditional ‘profits’ is highly relevant for us,” he said. “It’s good to hear how businesses create positive change, and that shareholders are becoming more aware of corporate responsibility in terms of international development.”
—Carmen Marti