Philips : Why measuring our social impact makes a difference

As a leader in health technology, our purpose is to improve people's health and well-being through meaningful innovation. We measure the lives we improve by multiplying active products and solutions by the number of people each product or solution touches. A typical Sonicare toothbrush, for example, is used by one person on average for four years. It touches one life during that period.

For large medical equipment - like one of our ultrasound systems - we follow the same approach to generate a total lives improved figure. We determine the average number of unique patients diagnosed per system each year. These statistics are generated and maintained for all Philips products and solutions on a market-to-market basis, which allows us to quantify the number of lives we touch.

We apply a statistical model to calculate and remove potential double counts for each country to address instances when a single individual benefits from more than one Philips product. Our societal impact is expressed in the total number of lives improved on a country by country basis. This audited methodology allows us to better measure our impact, generate actionable insights and drive real social value.

In 2020, our products and solutions improved the lives of 1.53 billion people, including 127 million in underserved communities.[3] By 2030, we've committed to improving the health and well-being of 2.5 billion people per year, including 400 million people living in underserved communities.