- Long-term Investors in People's Health
- Become an investor signatory
- Become a partner of LIPH
- Healthy Markets initiative
- Steering Group
Long-term Investors in People's Health
Good health: A vital asset
Good health is the bedrock for a thriving society. Our health is determined by the conditions in which we are born, work, live and age. The Covid-19 pandemic has underscored pre-existing societal challenges such as inequalities and high levels of chronic ill-health. It led to a labour market exodus across the OECD and highlighted the vital role good health plays in driving economic prosperity.
Of the roughly half a million Britons aged 15-64 still missing from the workforce since the pandemic begun, two in three cite long-term illness as their reason for not holding or seeking a job. In the US, poor health costs businesses an average of $3,900 per employee per year through absences and lost productivity. Poor diets are a key driver of ill-health, linked to 1 in 5 deaths globally, other factors like smoking, alcohol consumption and air quality are all important risk factors, too.
Poor health is exposing investors and many of the businesses they’re invested in to elevated and preventable financial risk. That’s why we’re establishing the Long-term Investors in People’s Health (LIPH) initiative. A global initiative that will support investors to give greater priority to health within their work.
The LIPH initiative helps investors to:
Lead
Gain a competitive advantage by being a leader and making an early commitment to prioritise health – a social engagement theme gaining fast momentum.
Collaborate
Join collaborative engagement initiatives to drive accelerated company progress and disclosure on key health issues.
Learn
Learn from one another and get early insight and support to mitigate health-related risks within your portfolios - including best practice guidance, company benchmarks, and briefings.
Influence
With our support, help influence policymakers and data providers to improve the health data landscape.
Learn more about becoming an investor signatory
Find out more about the benefits of joining the LIPH initiative and how to get in touch with us.
LIPH has developed this framework for health
Worker Health
The quality of work, working conditions and benefits provided by employers are a key determinant of health. Important factors include paying a Living Wage, offering secure contracts, provision of adequate and equitable parental leave, offering sick pay packages that support people to recover and stay well, and in some countries, health insurance. Well-designed jobs that give workers control and autonomy are also important for health.
Consumer health
As much as a third of all deaths worldwide are attributable to overconsumption of certain products – including alcohol, tobacco and food and drinks products. Health is heavily influenced by the actions of companies in these industries. With nearly one in five children now starting school either overweight or obese, the sales of high fat, high sugar products are in the spotlight.
Community health
Beyond their direct employees and customers, companies can influence the health of wider communities through polluting effects, or through their supply chains. The global cost of health damage because of poor air quality is estimated to equate to 6.1 per cent of global GDP.
Get involved
The LIPH initiative will grow investor engagement in health as an overarching theme and connect into existing investor initiatives focussing on specific health topics. We encourage investors, as well as other civil society groups working on health to get in touch about partnering with us. Contact us below to find out more.
Our corporate engagement
We will bring investors together on a range of key health topics focused on the three health pillars laid out above. This already includes our Healthy Markets initiative focussed on nutrition and Good Work coalition focussed on paying a Living Wage. Over the next two years we aim to build additional corporate engagement initiatives within the LIPH programme such as on workplace health and air quality.
