ABBOTT PARK, Ill., Sept. 13, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- For the sixth consecutive year, Abbott (NYSE: ABT) has been named the leading company in its industry by the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI), one of the most prestigious global benchmarks for corporate sustainability and responsibility. As the industry leader in Health Care Equipment & Supplies, Abbott is one of the 60 companies recognized for leading their respective global industries.

The DJSI designation recognizes companies for responsible and sustainable business, including economic, social and environmental performance. This is the 14^th consecutive year that Abbott has been recognized for sustainability through its inclusion on the DJSI, including both the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index and North America Index.

"As a healthcare company, we recognize that the success of our business depends upon a range of factors — economic, social and environmental. Our work is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to ensure our efforts are focused on the needs deemed most important to global well-being," said Miles D. White, chairman and chief executive officer, Abbott. "This year marks Abbott's 130th anniversary. That long history of success gives us a particular appreciation for sustainability, and what it takes to achieve it. We will continue to bring that perspective and that commitment to our efforts to be a productive and responsible corporate citizen."

Abbott earned the highest industry scores in economic and social performance. The company's score of 82 was more than double the average score of 33 for other companies in the industry.

Abbott also achieved the top industry scores in nine of DJSI's 24 specific economic, social and environmental criteria, including corporate governance; talent attraction and retention; marketing practices; customer relationship management; health outcome contribution; tax strategy; environmental reporting and social reporting; and corporate citizenship and philanthropy.  

In addition to being included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for 14 years, Abbott was recently named to the Fortune magazine "Change the World" list for creating positive social impact through business. The company also was named one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens by Corporate Responsibility magazine for 10 consecutive years, and was named the 2018 Corporate Citizen of the Year by the Executives' Club of Chicago. To learn more about Abbott's sustainability initiatives and reporting, please visit www.abbott.com/sustainability.

ABOUT S&P DOW JONES INDICES
The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI) are maintained collaboratively by S&P Dow Jones Indices (S&P DJI), one of the world's leading index providers, and RobecoSAM, the investment specialist that has focused exclusively on Sustainability Investing (SI) for over 23 years. Launched in 1999, the DJSI World represents the gold standard for corporate sustainability and is the first global index to track the leading sustainability-driven companies based on RobecoSAM's analysis of financially material Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) factors and S&P DJI's robust index methodology. RobecoSAM assesses the world's largest companies via its annual Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA), which uses a consistent, rules-based methodology to convert an average of 600 data points per company into one overall score. This score determines inclusion in the DJSI.

For additional information on the DJSI and the changes to its components' numbers, please visit: RobecoSAM's DJSI review page and S&P Dow Jones Indices.

ABOUT ABBOTT
At Abbott, we're committed to helping people live their best possible life through the power of health. For more than 125 years, we've brought new products and technologies to the world – in nutrition, diagnostics, medical devices and branded generic pharmaceuticals – that create more possibilities for more people at all stages of life. Today, 99,000 of us are working to help people live not just longer, but better, in the more than 150 countries we serve.

Connect with us at www.abbott.com, on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Abbott and on Twitter @AbbottNews and @AbbottGlobal.

SOURCE Abbott