WOONSOCKET, R.I., May 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- CVS Health (NYSE: CVS) today released its tenth annual Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, entitled Prescription for a Better World, providing updates on progress against the company's 2016 CSR goals, and establishing several new performance targets.

Accomplishments in 2016 spanned the company's strategic CSR pillars of Health in Action, Planet in Balance and Leader in Growth and illustrate its efforts to make health care more affordable, accessible and effective; provide customers with healthier and more sustainable products; and operate its business sustainably and responsibly.

New performance targets introduced in this year's report include expanding the company's commitment to preventing and mitigating prescription drug abuse by increasing pharmacist education and outreach to 750,000 children and families by 2020. In addition, to respond to the health care industry's complex and ever-changing compliance landscape, the company is harnessing new technologies that help colleagues stay informed of and comply with regulations and has committed to providing more than two million hours of annual compliance training to colleagues across the enterprise.

"We're incredibly proud of everything we accomplished in 2016 and believe that our business contributions have helped to address critical health care issues and deliver more affordable, accessible and effective care," said Larry Merlo, President and Chief Executive Officer for CVS Health. "Our corporate social responsibility strategy supports our growing business while helping people on their path to better health and making the world a healthier place to live."

Key highlights from the 2016 Report include:

Health in Action


    --  Delivered a low-cost alternative to auto-injectable epinephrine as one
        way to increase the affordability of prescription drugs
    --  Broadened MinuteClinic® services and piloted a first-of-its-kind
        partnership with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to offer clinic
        services to more than 60,000 veterans served by the Palo Alto VA. The
        success of the pilot resulted in the recent expansion of the program to
        provide quality care to veterans served by the Phoenix VA Health Care
        System.
    --  Expanded healthier food and beverage offerings to more than 2,900 stores
        nationwide
    --  Reached more than 170,000 students with prescription drug abuse
        education through the Pharmacists Teach® program
    --  Introduced Be The First, a five-year, $50 million initiative to help
        deliver the nation's first tobacco-free generation

Planet in Balance


    --  Advanced efforts to address chemicals of consumer concern by announcing
        the removal of parabens, phthalates and the most prevalent formaldehyde
        donors across nearly 600 beauty and personal care products from its
        store brand CVS Health, Beauty 360, Essence of Beauty, and Blade product
        lines
    --  Published and implemented a Responsible Palm Oil Sourcing Policy and
        committed to sourcing 100 percent of palm oil used in CVS Health
        products from verified, responsible sources by 2020
    --  Committed to developing a science-based emissions reduction target to
        align greenhouse gas emission reductions with global emissions budgets
        generated by climate models and joined more than 250 companies setting
        their emissions reduction targets in line with climate science

Leader in Growth 


    --  Published a Human Rights Policy that formalizes practices within our
        workplace and supply chain and aligns with the United Nations Guiding
        Principles on Business and Human Rights
    --  Achieved our goal of spending $1 billion annually with diverse suppliers
        by 2017, one year ahead of schedule, and became one of 26 U.S.-based
        companies named to the Billion Dollar Roundtable, a top-level corporate
        advocacy organization that promotes supply-chain diversity excellence
    --  Committed to expanding the company's Registered Apprenticeships program
        to 3,000 participants by 2020

"Prescription for a Better World is more than the title of our report - it's a comprehensive approach to CSR that engages colleagues across our organization to make measurable progress in fulfilling our purpose," Eileen Howard Boone, SVP of Corporate Social Responsibility and Philanthropy for CVS Health writes in the Report. "As I look ahead to the next ten years, I see so many opportunities for our CSR strategy to play an even bigger role in supporting our business and delivering value to our customers, communities and stakeholders."

The Report was developed in accordance with the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) G4 Guidelines, an international framework that is widely used by organizations to report on their CSR and sustainability performance. For more information on GRI, visit http://www.globalreporting.org/.

The Report is available online at http://cvshealth.com/social-responsibility/corporate-social-responsibility.

About CVS Health
 CVS Health is a pharmacy innovation company helping people on their path to better health. Through its nearly 9,700 retail locations, more than 1,100 walk-in medical clinics, a leading pharmacy benefits manager with nearly 90 million plan members, a dedicated senior pharmacy care business serving more than one million patients per year, expanding specialty pharmacy services, and a leading stand-alone Medicare Part D prescription drug plan, the company enables people, businesses and communities to manage health in more affordable and effective ways. This unique integrated model increases access to quality care, delivers better health outcomes and lowers overall health care costs. Find more information about how CVS Health is shaping the future of health at https://www.cvshealth.com.



    Media Contact:             Investor Relations:

    Joe Goode, (401) 770-9820  Nancy Christal, (401) 770-3614

    Joseph.Goode@CVSHealth.com Nancy.Christal@CVSHealth.com

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SOURCE CVS Health