Today more than 16,500 Novartis associates in 56 countries are engaging in voluntary activities to help their local communities in celebration of the company’s 17^th Community Partnership Day (CPD). This annual event commemorates the 1996 creation of Novartis as a global leader in healthcare and underscores the ongoing commitment of the company to corporate responsibility. Participation in CPD has grown steadily over the years as a way for Novartis associates worldwide to give back to their local communities and support a wide range of charitable causes.

Novartis associates are lending a hand in the world’s largest markets – and in countries where the company has a smaller presence. Significant efforts are planned in the United States, Japan, China, Brazil, Germany, Spain, Russia and the United Kingdom. Novartis volunteers are also helping communities in countries as diverse as Argentina, Australia, Congo, Barbados, the Czech Republic, Senegal and Indonesia.

Examples of volunteer service as part of this year’s Community Partnership Day include:

• Around 4,500 associates throughout Switzerland, including 3,500 from the Basel headquarters area, are participating in a range of voluntary projects at nursing homes and centers for young adults and children with disabilities.

• In Brazil, around 2,500 associates are volunteering to refurbish schools, playgrounds and health centers. In addition, they are partnering with government and non-governmental organizations on activities helping to educate the public about leprosy.

• 250 associates in Australia are helping to rehabilitate environmentally protected areas, to knit blankets for people around the world who suffer from extreme cold, to clean and refurbish local foundations, hospitals and retirement centers and to support organizations dedicated to cerebral palsy and multiple sclerosis.

• In Russia, 200 associates are supporting local community centers by upgrading their facilities in addition to planting trees and flowers.

• Associates in the Bahamas and other Caribbean and Central American countries such as Trinidad & Tobago, Panama and Costa Rica are helping local orphanages.

• 280 associates in Singapore are accompanying 250 elderly and school children on an excursion to a local aquarium and recreational park, a first for many, aiming to make the day a memorable experience for them.

• Around 140 associates in Spain are donating blood, helping the mentally disabled and hosting sporting activities for the homeless.

• In the Czech Republic, associates are visiting orphanages where they will organize and participate in educational and sporting activities as well as creative workshops.

• 240 associates in Slovenia are helping refurbish various centers such as the Slovenian mountain rescue, a youth asthma and sports association. The associates are also visiting the homes of the elderly and abused children as well as collecting donations for charities and conducting educational activities at a local school.

• In Congo, Senegal, Cameroon, Mali and the Ivory Coast associates are helping refurbish local hospitals and rural health centers, including educational workshops on hygiene and disease prevention.

About Novartis

Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines and diagnostic tools, over-the-counter and animal health products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2012, the Group achieved net sales of USD 56.7 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.3 billion (USD 9.1 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 129,000 full-time-equivalent associates and operate in more than 140 countries around the world. For more information, please visit www.novartis.com.

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Novartis

Novartis

Novartis is an innovative medicines company. Every day, we work to reimagine medicine to improve and extend people’s lives so that patients, healthcare professionals and societies are empowered in the face of serious disease. Our medicines reach more than 250 million people worldwide.

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