GSK is one of only 25 US companies currently accredited by the CEO Cancer Gold Standard*

The CEO Cancer Gold Standard is a workplace initiative that combats cancer by focusing on three objectives: risk reduction, early detection and quality care. This aligns closely with GSK’s Triple Message of 1) prevention, 2) intervention in chronic disease, and 3) innovation to improve health.

Organizations that adopt the CEO Cancer Gold Standard offer a series of benefits and programs that lower the risk of cancer through lifestyle changes. These include eliminating the use of tobacco, exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy diet. GSK was one of only six charter members in 2006 and has received reaccredidation every year since.

Gold Standard companies offer health plans that cover preventive screenings so that more cancers will be detected at the earliest possible stage when treatment can improve the outcome. And finally, a Gold Standard organization health plans provide access to the high-quality treatments, including eligible clinical trials, when a cancer diagnosis becomes a reality for an employee or a family member.

In addition to the specific benefits and programs that the Gold Standard requires, a Gold Standard employer maintains a culture that fosters healthy lifestyles, encourages age-and-gender-appropriate cancer screenings, and lends support when an employee or a family member is diagnosed with cancer. Gold Standard employers maintain a supportive culture in a number of creative ways. GSK Examples include: a Caregivers’ Support Group, Monthly promotion of CancerCare telephonic seminars, Health Advocate, Health Enhancement Assistance program offering $100 annual reimbursement towards qualified fitness and wellness programs, on site fitness centers, walking trails, healthy options in cafeteria and vending, an on-line Health Risk Questionnaire and health portal, and on site health risks screenings.

Find out more about the CEO Cancer Gold Standard.

The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001, when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives, led by Robert A. Ingram, then the CEO of Glaxo Wellcome, now GlaxoSmithKline, to “do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families.” The CEOs responded with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard, and have since collaborated with the American Cancer Society to encourage its widespread adoption in workplaces across the country.

GSK encourages other corporations to join the fight against cancer by becoming an accredited company. For more information about the CEO Cancer Gold Standard and the accreditation process, visit www.CancerGoldStandard.org.

To learn more about GSK's fight against cancer, click on the links below.

• Paula: the story of a survivor
• Challenging cancer
• Cervical cancer: a personal perspective
• A new era in cervical cancer prevention
• Working at GSK: View our current Oncology opportunities

* as of Sept. 4, 2008