NEW YORK CITY, NY. - June 13, 2007 - Eight leading businesses will receive awards tonight recognizing their outstanding contributions in the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria at the 6th Annual GBC Awards for Business Excellence Gala at the American Museum of Natural History.

GBC also will present an award to former U.S. President Bill Clinton for his outstanding leadership on HIV/AIDS and global health at the 2007 event, which will be attended by more than 700 high-ranking guests from business, politics and international development.

GBC honors six companies that conceived and executed effective HIV/AIDS workplace, community, core competency, national action, testing and counseling, and advocacy and leadership programs, as well as two companies with superlative TB and malaria programs.

The HIV/AIDS winners include Chevron (workplace); Coca-Cola China Beverages Ltd., (community); Standard Chartered PLC (core competency); Abbott and Abbott Fund (national action); Eskom Holdings Ltd. (testing and counseling); HBO (advocacy & leadership). Eli Lilly and Company receives the tuberculosis award and Marathon Oil Corporation receives the malaria award. The awardees were selected from a pool of more than 50 nominees by an independent panel of expert judges.

In addition to President Clinton, honored guests include: Sir Richard Branson, Founder and Chairman, Virgin Group; Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx; Zambian author and noted AIDS activist Ophelia Haanyama Orum; Gala Chair Amy Robbins; NBA star Samuel Dalembert; The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Chairman Rajat Gupta; and Malaria No More Co-Chair Ray Chambers.

"The companies we honor tonight have broken new ground in the corporate fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria, and they will serve as pre-eminent examples for other businesses around the world to follow," said GBC President Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. "The business community plays a vital role in fighting these epidemics, which decimate economies, destroy families and permanently alter societies. The companies honored tonight prove that the private sector can make a significant difference and pave the path for additional action."

2007 Awards for Business Excellence Winners:

Workplace Winner: Chevron
Driven by a rigorous analytical assessment that matches resources to real community needs, Chevron has significantly raised the bar on best practices for workplace HIV/AIDS programs. Chevron's Global HIV/AIDS Policy - Policy 260 - affirms that infected and affected employees are protected by the company's existing policies on discrimination and harassment and guarantees employee HIV/AIDS status confidentiality. Chevron conducted situational analyses to identify gaps between the HIV/AIDS threat and current company/community training, counseling, testing and treatment resources, and has engaged regional HIV/AIDS coordinators to bridge the gaps identified in the situation analysis, prioritizing countries with the greatest risk.

Community Winner: Coca-Cola China Beverages Limited
A leader in HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, Coca-Cola China executed national campaigns in 2005/2006, which reached 71 million people in more than 200 cities across the country. In addition, Coca-Cola China built upon a trip to South Africa by China's Ministry of Health by partnering with the Yunnan Provincial Women and Children Development Center in initiating an AIDS Orphan Care program which provides support and care to AIDS-impacted orphans from 75 villages across the region.

Core Competency Winner: Standard Chartered PLC
Standard Chartered PLC has applied its business skills to fight against HIV/AIDS by helping to improve the performance of the Gambia's grant from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria. As a result, more people who are infected are receiving life-saving drugs and counseling. Standard Chartered also piloted a program in Thailand which used messages on Automatic Teller Machines to encourage HIV testing. In addition, they have launched a pilot with guidance from the World Economic Forum's Global Health Initiative in Tanzania which aims to equip their small/medium sized customers roll out their own HIV/AIDS workplace programs.

National Action Winner: Abbott and Abbott Fund

Abbott and Abbott Fund have been working in partnership with the Government of Tanzania since 2000, creating a $50 million initiative to modernize the country's public health care infrastructure and meet the life-long treatment needs of people living with HIV/AIDS. The results have generated support for 90 rural hospitals and health clinics; trained 7,400 health care workers in HIV patient care; and expanded and accelerated voluntary testing and counseling for more than 150,000 people.

Testing and Counseling Winner: Eskom Holdings (South Africa)
As the main producer of electricity in South Africa, Eskom is dependent on an economically viable supply chain, customer base and productive workforce. Having identified HIV/AIDS as a great risk to its sustainability, it has invested its financial and human resources to manage the disease. Its voluntary testing and counseling program is 100% confidential. Eskom provides outstanding counseling services through an independent service provider, ensuring that qualified psychologists are available to provide emotional support around the clock. The company, which distributes free condoms, partners with other businesses as a member of the South African Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (SABCOHA).

Advocacy and Leadership Winner: HBO
Even as "AIDS fatigue" discouraged some companies from covering the epidemic, HBO continued to educate its viewers about the disease, in an effort to raise awareness, undo stigma, and encourage people to protect themselves and get tested. Some of the early films include, Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt (1989), And the Band Played On (1993), In the Gloaming (1997), and Gia (1998). HBO produced Rory Kennedy's documentary Pandemic: Facing AIDS, and the critically-acclaimed Angels in America. In 2007, HBO produced the documentary The Blood of Yingzhou District and the film Life Support. HBO also partnered with GBC, the NBA and the Kaiser Family Foundation to promote HIV testing through a series of PSAs.

Tuberculosis Winner: Eli Lilly and Company
In response to the growing MDR-TB pandemic, Eli Lilly and Company worked closely with Médecins Sans Frontieres and the World Health Organization to create the Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, a global effort with operations in 40 countries and a $120 million commitment. The effort is the only philanthropic MDR-TB program that combines early detection and treatment, health care worker training, surveillance, community and patient support and transfer of drug-manufacturing technology to companies in developing countries. International companies developing Lilly off-patent drugs have strengthened their manufacturing skills, generated exports and created hundreds of jobs.

Malaria Winner: Marathon Oil Corporation
When Marathon acquired production interests in Equatorial Guinea (EG) in 2002, the Company quickly identified malaria as the key health issue facing local communities. Marathon realized that elimination or a drastic reduction of malaria would reduce the health care and economic burden on the local population and also help protect the workforce. To address this critical community issue, Marathon led the formation of a unique $12.8 million public-private partnership which includes Noble Energy, the Government of Equatorial Guinea, Medical Care Development International and leading health specialists. During the first three years of The Bioko Island Malaria Control Project this groundbreaking effort has resulted in a 95 percent reduction in malaria transmitting mosquitoes caught indoors, and a 44 percent reduction in the presence of malaria parasites in children. An estimated 150,000 cases were averted in the program's first year, saving hard-earned income for impoverished workers that otherwise would be spent on treatment. For every dollar invested by the project, the community earned four dollars through improved productivity.

In 2006, the EG Government was awarded a $26 million grant from the Global Fund to expand malaria intervention to the entire population of this Central African nation. The Marathon Oil Company Foundation has donated an additional $1 million to support the initial phase of this expansion.

In addition, GBC commends the following companies for their outstanding work:

Commended Workplace:
British American Tobacco South Africa
ABSA

Commended Testing and Counseling:
Anglo Coal S.A.

Commended Community:
General Motors
Alcan Inc.
Hima Cement

Commended Core Competency:

Gap Inc.
MTV Networks/International
IBM Corporation

Commended Malaria:
Novartis Pharma AG
BHP Billiton
AngloGold Ashanti

Commended Tuberculosis:
AstraZeneca PLC
Dole-Stanfilco, A Division of Dole Philippines

Commended National Action:
Caribbean Broadcast Media Partnership on HIV/AIDS
Central Azucarera Don Pedro, Inc.

About GBC
The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) is an alliance of 220 international companies leading the business fight against HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria. GBC works to leverage the private sector's unique skills and expertise in the global response - including developing comprehensive workplace policies; supporting community programs; utilizing core competencies; facilitating leadership and advocacy by business leaders; and brokering public-private partnerships. The official focal point of the private sector delegation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, GBC maintains offices in New York, Paris, Johannesburg, Beijing, Geneva, Nairobi, Moscow, and Kyiv.

http://www.businessfightsaids.org/ / http://www.businessfightstb.org/ / http://www.businessfightsmalaria.org/

About the GBC Awards for Business Excellence
This will be the sixth annual awards dinner for the GBC. The first, held in New York in 2002, featured former President Bill Clinton, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and former DaimlerChrysler Chairman Juergen Schrempp. The 2003 dinner in Washington, D.C. included former Secretary of State Colin Powell, Senator Bill Frist, Senator John Kerry and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. The 2004 Berlin dinner featured former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, former World Bank President James Wolfensohn, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Randall Tobias and U2 lead singer Bono. 2005's Gala in Washington, DC featured keynote speakers Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton and UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and actress Angelina Jolie. Last year in London, keynote speakers included British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett, Sir Elton John, European Commission President José Barroso, and Graça Machel

GBCHealth

GBCHealth

GBCHealth is the preeminent organization focused on business engagement in support of meeting global goals for health. Its vision is health equity and a global business community that contributes its assets, skills, influence and reach to create a healthier world for employees, their families, and communities. GBCHealth works with companies worldwide and with the United Nations, governments, academia, civil society & others. In September 2022, GBCHealth launched future united, a global initiative harnessing the power of the private sector to fight for - and achieve - health equity, tackle the impact of climate change on health, and address antimicrobial resistance and future pandemics.

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