Baxter International Inc. (NYSE: BAX) continued to advance math and science education and reduce its environmental footprint through several recent initiatives. Baxter also supported the opening of a new education center in Chicago to prepare high schoolers for careers in health sciences and optimized product transport in Europe. The company was also recognized for the 10th year as Medical Products leader in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index.

Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy Opens in Chicago

In 2010, Baxter provided start-up funding and hands-on support to open the Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy (IHSCA), Chicago’s first charter health science career academy, dedicated to preparing students for healthcare careers. In September, IHSCA hosted the grand opening of its new 100,000 square-foot educational center in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. The center houses 10 laboratories outfitted for various science experiments, and is expected to receive Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Silver Certification. Baxter scientists and other employee volunteers will teach, sponsor lab tours and provide career advice to students throughout the year.

The charter school, which currently serves more than 200 freshmen and sophomores and will serve 600 students when fully enrolled, focuses on preparing students for success in healthcare careers. The school is helping to address the shortage of Latinos represented in healthcare careers and support Chicago’s efforts to provide high-quality education options.  The IHSCA provides students with a rigorous college prep curriculum that prepares them for success in competitive colleges and universities, and offers the opportunity for students to earn professional certifications for entry-level positions in healthcare.  It also provides job shadowing, career readiness and internship programs in an effort to create the next generation of healthcare leaders.

Baxter’s Sustainability Efforts Recognized by Dow Jones Sustainability Index

Baxter has been named 2011 Medical Products Industry Leader of the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World) and the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index (DJSI North America). This marks the 13th consecutive year that the company has been listed in the DJSI and the 10th year the company has been named Medical Products Industry Leader since the launch of the DJSI in 1999.

Baxter’s leadership position resulted from top scores across a number of performance areas including bioethics, code of conduct, risk and crisis management and environmental and social reporting.

The Dow Jones Sustainability Indices, derived from the Dow Jones Global Index, are the world's first benchmarks tracking the financial performance of leading sustainability-driven companies worldwide. The DJSI World Index tracks the financial performance of the top 10 percent in each of 57 sectors out of the 2,500 largest companies in the Dow Jones Global Index in terms of social, economic and environmental performance. The DJSI North America Index includes the top 20 percent of the 600 largest North American companies in the Dow Jones Global Index. For more information, visit www.sustainability-index.com.

Product Transportation Initiative in Europe Recognized with Innovation Award

Baxter transports large amounts of raw materials and more than 100 million cases of finished products each year throughout the company's global supply chain and uses several approaches to decrease the environmental impact of product transport.

In June 2011, Baxter, and its partners, UCB, Tri-Vizor and H.Essers, received the Innovation Award at the fourth European Supply Chain Awards ceremony organized by the World Trade Group and Supply Chain Logistics. The award recognizes Baxter and its partners for its innovative approach to freight transportation.

In April 2011, Baxter and healthcare company UCB agreed to combine their shipments to optimize product transport efficiencies in Europe. The companies believe this will help both organizations increase the speed and frequency of medicine delivery to patients, while reducing carbon footprint by up to 30 percent and cost by up to 10 percent on average per shipment. The pilot has begun with destinations in Eastern Europe.

About Baxter

Baxter's commitment to sustainability spans more than three decades. The company is included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and has been recognized by Corporate Knights as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World and by Corporate Responsibility magazine as one of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens. Baxter also ranked first in the healthcare category of Newsweek's annual Green Rankings since the list’s inception in 2009. Baxter is a member of the Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, the Business Environmental Leadership Council of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change and the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association. Baxter endorses the Ceres principles and is an organizational stakeholder of the Global Reporting Initiative. Further information about Baxter’s sustainability activities can be found at www.sustainability.baxter.com.

Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops, manufactures and markets products that save and sustain the lives of people with hemophilia, immune disorders, infectious diseases, kidney disease, trauma, and other chronic and acute medical conditions.  As a global, diversified healthcare company, Baxter applies a unique combination of expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to create products that advance patient care worldwide.

Baxter International Inc.

Baxter International Inc.

At Baxter, sustainability means creating lasting social, environmental and economic value by addressing the needs of the company’s wide-ranging stakeholder base. The company's sustainability efforts support Baxter's mission to apply innovative science in the development of products and therapies that save and sustain patients' lives.

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