UK nurses' union drops Israeli drug firm over military links
10:19, 04/10/2026, Sunday
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The Royal College of Nursing has terminated its commercial partnership with Israeli pharmaceutical firm Teva UK ahead of next month's leadership summit, citing the company's links to the military and violations of international law, according to a statement by campaigning group Nurses 4 Palestine.
RCN ends Teva UK sponsorship
The Royal College of Nursing has severed its commercial partnership with Israeli pharmaceutical firm Teva UK, stripping the company of its sponsorship of the upcoming RCNi Nursing Leadership Summit scheduled for October 30, the UK nursing union confirmed in a letter dated September 23. Carmel O'Boyle, chair of the RCN Council, communicated the decision to Nurses 4 Palestine, a collective of UK-based healthcare professionals who have campaigned against corporate ties to Israeli military operations.
The union acknowledged that further due diligence into Teva Pharmaceuticals' global track record revealed operations subject to legal sanctions and intense public scrutiny, concluding that the Israeli firm's activities were incompatible with the ethical standards expected of the nursing profession. The RCN also announced a full review to strengthen its commercial partnership policy, directly crediting the evidence presented in an open letter by campaigning groups on September 10 with prompting the urgent reassessment of sponsor relationships.
Activists celebrate collective pressure
Nurses 4 Palestine said the decision followed sustained pressure on UK healthcare institutions to end complicity with corporate actors linked to Israeli violations of international law. "The decision follows sustained campaigning ... demanding that UK healthcare institutions end complicity with corporate actors linked to Israeli apartheid and violations of international law," the group said in a statement posted on Instagram. "When frontline workers organise collectively, institutional inertia can be broken, and corporate whitewashing can be stopped," it added.
The RCNi Nursing Leadership Summit is scheduled to proceed on October 30 without Teva UK's financial backing. Nurses 4 Palestine has vowed to continue pressuring UK medical institutions to sever ties with pharmaceutical companies and other corporate entities profiting from military occupation and apartheid practices.