Sustainable Business through better Patient Outcomes

I am an employee of Olympus. The statements or opinions expressed in this post are my own and do not necessarily represent those of Olympus Corporation or any of its subsidiaries.

It's kind of fortuitous that I can get a chance to share some thoughts on this particular day as it is World Environment Day.??Celebrated annually on June 5th since 1973, #WorldEnvironmentDay is led by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and is the largest global platform for environmental public outreach. While previous years have focused on tackling plastic pollution and restoring balance between people and nature, this year's theme is #GenerationRestoration, which you can find out more about here.

From an environmental perspective, the topic of #sustainability can take on different connotations for corporations, ranging from how and where an organisation sources its raw materials for production, to how it transports its products across the globe, to how it chooses to power its operations - and everything in between - and yes, these are questions we are being asked at Olympus by both our internal and external stakeholders alike.

For those who may not know, Olympus is a leading global #MedTech company with over 28,000 dedicated team members in some 38 countries or regions. We're consistently ranked as one of the top 100 most innovative companies in the world by Clarivate , with roughly 13,000 patents across our product portfolio, treating approximately 100 diseases or conditions across our array of medical devices.

Looking at our organisation through the lens of sustainability, we have been included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DSJI) World Index for three consecutive years. The DSJI World Index represents the top 10% of the largest 2,500 companies in the S&P Global BMI based on long-term economic, environmental and social criteria.

More recently, in April this year, we joined the Healthcare Plastics Recycling Council (HPRC) , a consortium of industry peers from the healthcare, recycling and waste management sectors that aims to improve the recyclability of plastic products and packaging in the healthcare industry, where we share and learn best practice.

From an environmental impact viewpoint, we continue to work towards two emissions targets.? They are:

1. Scope 1 & 2 Carbon Neutrality in our site operations by 2030
2. Scope 1, 2 & 3 Net-Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 2040

At the end of 2023, we made a significant stride towards our 2040 target when the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), an international initiative jointly established by the WWF , CDP , the World Resources Institute (WRI), and the UN Global Compact, verified Olympus’ net-zero science-based targets. This ensures accuracy and specificity in achieving our emissions targets.

In addition to improving manufacturing efficiency and implementing energy-saving measures, we are currently working towards carbon neutrality by switching to or introducing renewable energy at our sites.? From April 2022, 100% of electricity used in our Japan manufacturing sites is procured from renewable sources.? We are also making steady progress globally, with sites around the world having already switched to renewable energy or assessing the feasibility of doing so. The proportion of total electricity consumption from renewable sources increased significantly to 71.9% (compared with 23.3% in the previous year). Having said that, societal infrastructure, especially in the emerging economies, may take some time to provide sustainable energy options. Nevertheless, we continue to work towards achieving our emissions targets.

The Link Between Sustainability & Better Patient Outcomes

Not only is it important for us to look at environmental sustainability as a global business, but also our contributions to a sustainable society, ensuring that we continue to serve communities through our capacity as a MedTech company.? What that means for us as a MedTech innovator, is that we have certain goals or guiding principles that guide our actions throughout the entire product lifecycle, including the R&D (research and development) phase.? But what determines the direction we take?? To get a little bit of an insight into that, I need to briefly talk about the United Nations ’ (UN) Sustainable Development Goals or SDGs for short.

Without going into too much detail, think of the UN's #SDGs as a set of ambitious goals for society, where nations and organisations alike aim to make a positive impact and ensure the betterment of humanity today and for the future - in a nutshell, sustainability on a grand scale.? If you want to learn more about the SDGs, you can read more about them here.

Good Health and Well Being:? A North Star for Our Purpose

At Olympus, Our Purpose is to make people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling.? As mentioned earlier, we have certain goals or guiding principles that define what we do, so you may be wondering how the UN SDGs fit into Our Purpose.? Looking at the 17 SDGs, there is one particular goal that stands out more than others when we put ourselves under the sustainability microscope – that is SDG 3 – Good Health and Well-Being.

When Olympus undertook its materiality assessment (an assessment where our internal and external stakeholders address where we should focus and prioritise our sustainability efforts), Healthcare Access and Outcomes was identified as a clear materiality issue.? Looking at this through the lens of the third SDG, there were several issues identified as areas in need of focus. But I'd like to highlight one in particular.

Top Priority - Contributing to health equity and access.?

Contributing to health equity and access - that is, contributing to the goal of achieving a state where everyone has a fair opportunity to attain their highest level of health, in addition to the ability to access such services.? For Olympus APAC , one of our key focuses is both to provide products and to support the number of specialists in emerging markets. Ultimately, these two focuses must go hand in hand - I mean, there's no point in providing products if there aren't enough specialists to serve the population, right? You simply cannot put the cart before the horse.

To give you some food for thought, as shared in our most recent integrated report, statistically there were 282 endoscopists per million people in Japan (a developed economy), or approximately 1 endoscopist per 3,500 people. In contrast, there are only 7 endoscopists per million people in India, or about 1 endoscopist per 143,000 people - an even larger issue when taking into account India's population of 1.43 billion people. Similarly, in Indonesia there is only 1 endoscopist for every 500,000 people in a population of around 280 million. For these reasons, we have set targets to increase the amount of colorectal cancer training specifically in emerging markets such as India and Indonesia (and others) to help meet societal needs and support the increase in the number of specialists.

Bringing things back closer to APAC, an initiative from Olympus Korea

Yes, we are a for-profit company, but that doesn't make what we stand for any less important. Our products are used in the hope that we can make people healthier. But what happens to patients after treatment? Yes, the treatment may be over, but their personal journey isn't over, and for many of them, a new journey is just beginning.

That question - what happens next? - was one of the catalysts that drove and inspired an initiative from our Olympus Korea team known as the 'Going-on Campaign' to help cancer survivors live rich and fulfilling lives both during and after cancer treatment.

This program has been serving the community since 2020, and I feel continues to be a really positive example of where our organisation is embodying Our Purpose of making people's lives healthier, safer and more fulfilling, whilst also supporting our True To Life philosophy.

Sustainable Business AND better Patient Outcomes

At the end of the day, I feel that Olympus recognises that to best serve society, our strengths as a MedTech organisation should be leveraged in the areas in which we shine.?

As time goes on, I believe that as an organisation, we will continue to contribute and add value to society by delivering life-enhancing products in an environmentally sustainable way, supporting better patient outcomes by focusing on not just developing next generation products, but also supporting the next generation of healthcare specialists in the years to come.