ABCD seeks to work in collaboration with any organisation, who shares its aims of ensuring the highest quality of care for diabetic patients both in hospitals and in primary care. This includes commercial companies and government as well as other professional societies / charities. ABCD's primary consideration in any collaboration is ensuring that its independence is not in any way compromised and it is free to act in the best interests of its members and what it considers to be in the best interests of people with diabetes / the public good.
ABCD recognises the very significant influence, through innovation in technology and investment in marketing and education that the pharmaceutical industry has on the delivery of healthcare. Through collaboration with pharmaceutical companies, ABCD is able to gain access to expertise and resources to promote the Association and support its charitable priorities that it would otherwise not have access to.
The financial support provided by ABCD Corporate Supporters for the core activities of the Association allows ABCD to make its services either freely available or at greatly reduced rates to its members. Additionally, by working in partnership with companies to support the development of pharmaceutical industry education programmes, ABCD is able to influence the content of such programmes by providing clinical and specialist input, and independent review / scrutiny. ABCD will only endorse / put its name to programmes where it has driven and approved the content and where it believes it is securing a good return on its investment in terms of income / fees for professional services, marketing opportunities and charitable impact.
Whilst the Association does take membership fees of £75 per member per year; this is insufficient to support the activites of the organisation. Research funding also does help to support the research programme of ABCD. Public fundraising is not a realistic source of funding for ABCD whose immediate beneficiaries of health professionals are not the public. ABCD is currently reliant on the pharmaceutical and technology industries for a significant proportion of its income. Funding is secured from each of the major companies in the diabetes market and no single company provides more than 20% total funding. This ensures there is no bias to any particular company.
Written agreements are in place for all funding received from the pharmaceutical industry. The sources of funding are declared and made transparent on the ABCD website and on all relevant materials.
ABCD recognises its credibility and independence as its greatest assets both in terms of its ability to influence and to secure support. It recognises the potential conflicts that its reliance upon pharmaceutical industry brings. ABCD has rigorous governance processes in place to ensure it operates independently and is not unduly influenced by any third party body. The trustee board operates at arm’s length from ABCD Corporate Supporters and has no direct contact with them. The large majority of the Board has no interest in the pharmaceutical industry. The Trustee Board is responsible for overseeing the activities of the Association, ensuring proper procedures and policies are in place to manage resources effectively to deliver charitable outcomes and to protect the independence and reputation of the Association.
