UK Nursing Union Cuts Ties With Israeli Drug Company Over Military Links

LONDON, Oct 4 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has terminated its commercial partnership with an Israeli drug company, citing links with the country's military, Anadolu Ajansi reported.

UK-based Nurses 4 Palestine said on Friday that Carmel O’Boyle, chair of the RCN Council, confirmed to the group that Teva UK had been stripped of its sponsorship of the upcoming RCN Nursing Leadership Summit on Oct 30.

O’Boyle announced the decision in a letter to the group dated Sept 23, Nurses 4 Palestine said in a statement on the US social media platform Instagram.

"The decision follows sustained campaigning… demanding that UK healthcare institutions end complicity with corporate actors linked to Israeli apartheid and violations of international law," it said.

Nurses 4 Palestine, UK Healthcare Petitions to the Royal Colleges, healthcare professionals and union members have been campaigning against the partnership.

The group said the RCN acknowledged that further due diligence into Teva Pharmaceuticals’ global track record, "including operations subject to legal sanctions and intense public scrutiny", found the company incompatible with the ethical standards of the nursing profession.

The union also announced a full review to strengthen its commercial partnership policy, directly crediting evidence presented in an open letter by campaigning groups on Sept 10.

"When frontline workers organise collectively, institutional inertia can be broken, and corporate whitewashing can be stopped," Nurses 4 Palestine said.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU