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Corporate Social Responsibility
News
4.23.2008 - 01:41pm ET
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More than 10,500 Novartis Associates Worldwide Take Part in Community Partnership Day
(CSRwire) - Novartis
organizes annual Community Partnership Day to commemorate the company’s
creation in 1996
- More than 10,500 associates worldwide engage in
volunteer activities in their communities
- Novartis event emphasizes strong
commitment to Corporate Citizenship
BASEL - April 23, 2008 – Thousands of Novartis associates worldwide are
taking part tomorrow in the company's Community Partnership Day by
engaging in volunteer activities to benefit people in their local
communities. This year marks the 12th Community Partnership Day,
established to commemorate the creation of Novartis in 1996.
About 10,000 associates worldwide joined in the event in 2007, engaging in
volunteer work for a wide range of charitable causes. More than 3,600
associates across Switzerland are expected to participate in the 2008
event, and two hundred projects are planned for Novartis volunteers in
Switzerland this year. In the Basel area, associates are working on 150
projects such as accompanying disabled children and elderly people on
excursions to the zoo or reconditioning forest areas and repairing
playgrounds in the region. In Bern, associates will plant reeds along the
shores of Lake Bienne, build nests for ring snakes and recondition the dry
stone walls in the vineyards. Associates in Nyon are organizing
recreational activities for handicapped people and coaching sessions for
young people looking for professional reinsertion.
In Belgium, the motto of this year's Partnership Day is "helping to
realize the Olympic dream." Among the activities, Novartis associates will
organize a fund-raising bicycle tour for the Belgian paralympic team.
Further, a team of Novartis employees will play against Belgian paralympic
goal ball visually-impaired athletes. Money collected during both events
will be given to the Belgian paralympic committee during a special
ceremony.
In Canada, more than 150 associates have volunteered to help 10 community
groups, including a seniors' citizens residence, women’s shelter, food
bank and youth centre. The president of Novartis Canada and local
politicians will host a kick-off breakfast to encourage the volunteers as
they start their day helping out their community.
In India, the Community Partnership Day is extended to a whole week.
During this time, Novartis associates will go out to spread cheer among
the elderly, the underprivileged, the physically- and mentally-challenged.
For the first time, the local affiliate is collaborating with an NGO in a
unique resource mobilization initiative providing clothes and other basic
amenities to the have-nots in far-flung areas – turning one's waste into
a resource for another.
In the Philippines, Novartis associates will reach out to three
communities, painting and refurbishing a school in Manila's depressed
area, planting a vegetable garden in a temporary shelter and bringing
cheer to underprivileged children in an orphanage.
Close to 600 associates from Novartis China will participate in the
Partnership Day. In Shanghai, associates will visit an orphanage, at the
global Novartis R&D center, they will play host to graduate students while
in Beijing, they will plant trees. In Changshu, eastern of China,
activities will include cleaning streets and picking garbage on a nearby
mountain.
In Slovenia, 120 associates will engage in a wealth of activities,
including landscaping the grounds of a climatic spa for children with
asthma and other chronic respiratory diseases. They will also renovate a
shelter for children who have been removed from their families due to
physical violence or psychological abuse, and assist in the Special
Olympics held in Lendava, where over 200 children and adults with mental
disabilities will compete.
Since the inception of the Community Partnership Day, Novartis Argentina
has been a strong and steady supporter of institutions devoted to children
and elderly people in need. Associates will spend the day visiting these
institutions to donate food and clothes, complete household activities and
entertain inhabitants.
In 2007, 66 million patients around the world benefited from Novartis
access-to-medicines programs that were valued at USD 937 million. These
initiatives range from drug donation and research programs to combat
neglected diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and leprosy in developing
nations, to patient assistance programs that help cancer patients receive
the most innovative and effective treatments.
About Novartis
Novartis provides healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of
patients and societies. Focused on growth areas in healthcare, Novartis
offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative
medicines, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and
diagnostic tools, and consumer health products. Novartis is the only
company with leading positions in these areas. In 2007, the Group's
continuing operations (excluding divestments in 2007) achieved net sales
of USD 38.1 billion and net income of USD 6.5 billion. Approximately USD
6.4 billion was invested in R&D activities throughout the Group.
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis Group companies employ
approximately 98,200 full-time associates and operate in over 140
countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.novartis.com.
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