Health Care & Pharmaceuticals

NEW YORK. Jan. 22 - Pfizer Inc. is proud to celebrate the 10th anniversary of its Global Health Fellows Program (GHF) as part of its corporate social investment strategy that focuses on leveraging the full range of the company’s resources — people, medicines, expertise and funding — to broaden access to medicines and strengthen health care delivery for underserved people around the world.

GHF is Pfizer’s signature corporate volunteer program that pairs colleagues from technical and functional areas across Pfizer in three- to six- month fellowships with international development organizations to improve health services for people in greatest need.

“Since the first year of the Pfizer GHF Program, Project HOPE has benefited from the extraordinary expertise of Pfizer employees, working in our field sites in Latin America, Africa, Asia and Central Europe,” said Cary Kimble, Associate Vice President, Development, Project HOPE. “These members of the Pfizer family have helped improve Project HOPE’s monitoring and evaluation systems and our health education curricula and materials, have helped measure and validate the impact of our work, have helped develop business and marketing plans, and have allowed us to reach more people, more effectively.”

The 10th anniversary Fellows class is from technical and business functions from across six Pfizer locations: United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, Germany, Canada and the United States. Combined, the 2013 class will be sharing 156 years of Pfizer experience with eleven GHF partner organizations to optimize supply chains and scale-up promising health prevention approaches, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease awareness and screening initiatives and business strategy and development functions in China, India and East Africa.

“The tenth anniversary of this vibrant program vividly demonstrates our commitment to promoting access, quality and efficiency of health services for the world’s neediest people,” said Caroline Roan, President of the Pfizer Foundation and Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility. “It also offers clear evidence that by coordinating our efforts and partnering with other stakeholders, the impact of our effort is magnified and we all benefit.”

A 2012 study by Boston University’s Center for International Health and Development revealed that 100 percent of partners reported Global Health Fellows helped them to accelerate sustainable change in their health service delivery efforts. In addition, partnership organizations reported “extremely significant” and “significant” capacity gains in Human Resources training and development; Leadership and Governance; and Health Management Information Systems.

“Fellows become an integral part of the regional GBCHealth team, working closely with us to deliver on their complex scopes of work,” said Elizabeth Sorensen, Vice President, Human Resources, GBCHealth. “Their impact has been described as lifesaving, significant, insightful, and amazing.”

Since 2003, 317 colleagues have completed an estimated 325,000 hours of skills-based volunteering, which is valued at approximately $47.6M of pro-bono service to partner organizations throughout the developing world. Through GHF, Pfizer has partnered with more than 40 international development organizations in more than 40 countries over the life of the program.

For additional information on Pfizer’s Global Health Fellows Program, please visit www.pfizer.com/GHF.

DENVER, DE 27 - DaVita, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. (NYSE: DVA) and a leading provider of kidney care services, celebrated its partnerships with the communities it served in 2012.

“At DaVita, we take our responsibilities – to our patients, to each other and to our communities – very seriously,” said Kent Thiry, DaVita HealthCare Partners® chairman and CEO. “This has been an incredible year for us clinically, as a business, and just as importantly, as a community partner working to make the world a little bit better.”

With a commitment to being the “Provider, Partner and Employer of Choice,” DaVita® received a number of awards in 2012, including recognition as one of the world’s most democratic companies by WorldBlu®. DaVita was the only health care company and the only FORTUNE 500® company on the 2012 list. DaVita was also recognized in 2012 as one of the nation’s top five most “likeable businesses” and was included in FORTUNE® magazine’s most admired companies list for 2012.

“Community First, Company Second”

One of DaVita’s most cherished principles is that DaVita is “a community first, and a company second.” Employees are known as teammates or citizens, and the company itself is internally referred to as “The Village,” operating with seven core values – service excellence, integrity, team, continuous improvement, accountability, fulfillment and fun. DaVita encourages its teammates to support each other and their communities, sending “ripples of citizen leadership” out into the world through every act of service.

• DaVita Village Network – The DaVita Village Network is a DaVita community fund supported by both teammate and corporate contributions that provides financial assistance to teammates (or their immediate dependents) for out-of-pocket expenses during times of crisis such as a natural disaster, life-threatening emergency, unexpected medical or funeral expenses, or financial hardships as a result of military deployment. Since its inception, the DaVita Village Network has provided more than $2.1 million to teammates in times of need.
• Denver Public Schools Outreach – DaVita University, a continuing education and leadership program, offers a variety of classes related to team building, management and leadership. In 2012, DaVita University partnered with Denver Public Schools (DPS) to offer 21 leadership development and team-building programs for 1,793 leaders, principals, teachers and staff within Denver schools. Contributing a total of 3,951 hours, DaVita teammates also provided support as DPS developed shared core values.

Chronic Kidney Disease Awareness

More than 20 million people over the age of 20 in the U.S. have kidney disease, most of whom are unaware they are affected by the disease. High-risk groups include African-Americans, Hispanics, Pacific Islanders, Native Americans and seniors (those 60 and over). One of DaVita’s goals is to bring awareness to this life-threatening disease through unique community events.

• DaVita Kidney Rock Walk^TM – More than 1,200 people participated in the DaVita Kidney Rock™ event in August, helping to raise an estimated $500,000 for Bridge of Life – Medical Missions™, which brings life-saving dialysis treatments to developing countries by supporting the creation of self-sustaining clinics. Hundreds of attendees also received kidney disease screenings from The Kidney TRUST.
• Tour DaVita ® - DaVita’s annual charity bike ride, Tour DaVita, raised $900,000 to support Bridge of Life in 2012. The proceeds from Tour DaVita will help fund nine medical missions taking place in 2013 where Bridge of Life volunteers will be able to install or repair 112 dialysis machines. Through these missions, Bridge of Life will bring dialysis treatment to more than 600 people in communities that otherwise would not have access to this life-sustaining care.

Charitable Giving

DaVita is committed to innovative engagement as citizens of local communities, empowering nonprofit organizations to become leaders in health, education, business and community transformation. DaVita supports local organizations that are making a significant impact in people’s lives.

• DaVita Way of Giving – For the second year, DaVita supported “DaVita Way of Giving” (DWOG) – a million-dollar giveaway to charities across the U.S., in which recipients are selected by clinic teammates. More than 1,900 DaVita clinics had the opportunity to come together and donate their time and money to local charities of their choice. These sponsorships stem from years of continued service by teammates and often include community-service projects known as “Village Service Days.”
• Corporate Charitable Giving – DaVita also continued its traditional support of local charities across the nation by giving away more than $2.8 million. DaVita supports a comprehensive approach to giving involving monetary donations, board leadership and community service. For example, DaVita’s headquarters supported Project Angel Heart (PAH) by serving as their $25,000 title sponsor for “Taste for Life,” an annual event that raises money for PAH’s mission of delivering nutritious meals to improve quality of life – at no cost – for those coping with life-threatening illness. Teammates also volunteered more than 500 hours in the kitchen, personally delivered meals and decorated 1,000 food-delivery bags.

Community Service

This year was DaVita’s best year ever for teammate volunteerism through “Village Service Days.” Village Service Days include any community service performed by three or more teammates at or on behalf of DaVita. Over the past several years, teammates and their friends around the country have launched a variety of local community-service projects. Between January 1 and December 15, 2012, DaVita teammates participated in more than 200 Village Service Days, involving more than 7,000 teammates and more than 11,000 hours of service.

• Shoes That Fit – Working with charity partner Shoes That Fit, DaVita citizens at the company’s business office in Irvine, Calif., along with field teammates across Southern California, donated 1,030 pairs of shoes to elementary school children. Every child at Lincoln Elementary School in Santa Ana – where 92 percent of the students are on free or reduced lunch and about 100 are homeless – received a new pair of athletic shoes. DaVita citizens collected these shoes (and 1,030 pairs of socks) in just two weeks so that the children would have new shoes for Spring Break.
• Sun Valley Youth Center – As part of an annual leadership retreat, DaVita’s most senior operational leaders spent a day helping to rehabilitate Sun Valley Youth Center in Denver by cleaning and entirely re-landscaping the center’s grounds. Sun Valley Youth Center provides day care, after-school care, youth development, mentoring and life essentials programs to youth in one of Denver’s lowest-income neighborhoods. DaVita senior leaders have planned a multi-year volunteer project with Sun Valley to support the center’s work.

Sustainability

• DaVita HQ Expected to Receive LEED® Gold Rating – DaVita expects to receive LEED® Gold certification of its world headquarters building, designed with environmentally responsible materials and energy efficient systems, from the use of 2,850 linear feet of beetle kill wood to water efficiency that saves more than 1 million gallons of water each year. Flooring throughout the building is comprised of pre- and post-consumer recycled materials; more than 90 percent of teammates have direct views to the outdoors; and 100 percent of permanent teammates receive complimentary RTD EcoPasses. DaVita also diverts more than 85 percent of materials from landfills through internal composting and recycling efforts. In addition, DaVita was recognized as an “EPA Green Power Partner” by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
• Corporate Environmental Goals – DaVita’s Village Green department is committed to reducing the Village’s environmental footprint while striving to achieve five environmental goals by 2015:
  • Reduce energy consumption by 15 percent
  • Reduce office paper consumption by 20 percent and operate paperless clinics
  • Reduce water consumption by 10 percent
  • Increase environmentally preferable procurement by 15 percent
  • Increase teammate awareness/education by implementing one new program each year

• DaVita Jumps in Newsweek’s U.S. Green Ranking List – Newsweek’s 2012 U.S. Green Ranking List placed DaVita at number 209, up 33 spots from 2011. Newsweek U.S. Green Rankings highlight the top 500 companies in America for leadership in environmental performance. This is the fourth year Newsweek has compiled its green rankings; DaVita has been ranked each year so far.

For more information about DaVita’s social responsibility practices, please visit DaVita.com/CommunityCare.

About DaVita

DaVita is the dialysis division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc., a Fortune 500® company that, through its operating divisions, provides a variety of health care services to patient populations throughout the United States and abroad. A leading provider of kidney care in the United States, DaVita delivers dialysis services to patients with chronic kidney failure and end stage renal disease. DaVita strives to improve patients’ quality of life by innovating clinical care, and by offering integrated treatment plans, personalized care teams and convenient health-management services. As of September 30, 2012, DaVita operated or provided administrative services at 1,912 outpatient dialysis centers located in the United States serving approximately 150,000 patients. The company also operated 24 outpatient dialysis centers located in five countries outside the United States. DaVita supports numerous programs dedicated to creating positive, sustainable change in communities around the world. The company’s leadership development initiatives and social responsibility efforts have been recognized by Fortune, Modern Healthcare, Newsweek and WorldBlu. For more information, please visit DaVita.com.

NEW YORK, Nov. 28 - This World AIDS Day, Chief Executives from some of the world’s largest companies are calling for an end to travel restrictions for people living with HIV.

More than 40 CEOs have signed an unprecedented pledge urging the repeal of laws and policies in 45 countries that still deport, detain or deny entry to people solely because they are living with HIV.

The CEOs represent nearly 2 million employees in industries from banking to mining, travel to technology. They include companies like Johnson & Johnson, The Coca-Cola Company, Pfizer, Heineken, Merck, the National Basketball Association, Kenya Airways and Thomson Reuters.

“HIV travel restrictions are discriminatory and bad for business,” said Chip Bergh, President & CEO of Levi Strauss & Co. “Global business leaders are coming together to make sure we end these unreasonable restrictions.”

The CEO pledge is an initiative of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Levi Strauss & Co. and GBCHealth, a coalition of companies that address global health challenges.

“Restrictions on entry, stay and residence for people living with HIV are discriminatory and a violation of human rights,” said Michel Sidibé, Executive Director of UNAIDS. “Every individual should have equal access to freedom of movement. I urge all countries to remove all such restrictions based on HIV status.”

CEOs oppose HIV travel restrictions because they are discriminatory and because, to succeed in today’s globalized economy, companies must be able to send their employees and best talent overseas, regardless of their HIV status.

“It’s time to send HIV travel restrictions packing,” said Kenneth Cole, CEO of Kenneth Cole Productions. “Using our collective might, I believe we can use our influence to eliminate these discriminatory practices."

The U.S. lifted its 22-year HIV travel ban in 2010. Other countries, including Armenia, China, Fiji, Moldova, Namibia and Ukraine, have also recently removed such restrictions. However, 45 countries still deny entry, stay, residence or work visas for people living with HIV. These countries include major hubs for international business.

“Travel restrictions on individuals with HIV are unnecessary and hinder the ability for individuals and companies to operate in a truly global workforce,” said Mark Bertolini, Chairman, CEO & President of Aetna.

Most HIV travel restrictions were imposed by governments in the 1980s when less was known about the transmission of HIV, and treatment didn’t exist. Since then, we’ve learned how to effectively prevent, manage and treat HIV.

Travel restrictions vary in different countries and can include preventing people living with HIV from entering altogether or deporting foreigners once their HIV status is discovered. Restrictions also include denying work visas, prohibiting short-terms stays for business trips or conferences and blocking longer-term stays or residence for work relocations and study abroad programs.

The World AIDS Day call to end HIV travel restrictions coincides with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s release this Thursday of a blueprint that outlines the goals and objectives for the next phase of the United States’ effort to achieve an AIDS-Free Generation.  Also on Thursday,GBCHealth Managing Director and Co-President Michael Schreiber will speak out against HIV travel restrictions at a 1:15 p.m. panel on addressing HIV-related stigma and discrimination at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City and a 12:30 p.m. press conference at the U.N. Press Center. The CEO pledge was first launched at the 2012 International AIDS Conference in Washington, D.C.

“Eliminating HIV travel restrictions is a win-win,” Schreiber said.  “It’s the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective and the right thing to do from a business perspective.”

Participating CEOs:

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede, Group Managing Director/CEO, Access Bank Plc; Mark Bertolini, Chairman, CEO and President, Aetna; Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive, Anglo American plc;Vincent A. Forlenza,  Chairman of the Board, CEO and President, BD; Debra Lee, Chairman & CEO, BET Networks; Andy Burness, President, Burness Communications; Lamberto Andreotti, CEO, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Muhtar Kent, Chairman of the Board and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company; Richard Edelman, President & CEO, Edelman; Mark R. Kramer, Founder and Managing Director,  FSG; Glenn K. Murphy, Chairman and CEO, Gap Inc.; Jonathan D. Klein, CEO and Co-Founder, Getty Images; John C. Martin, PhD, Chairman and CEO, Gilead Sciences, Inc.; Karl-Johan Persson, CEO, H&M Hennes & Mauritz AB; Dr. Chris Kirubi, Chairman, Haco Tiger Brands; Jean-Francois van Boxmeer, Chairman of the Executive Board/CEO, HEINEKEN NV; Victor Y. Yuan, Chairman, Horizon Research and Consultancy Group; Bong Yong Dam, CEO,Hub One International Company Ltd; Jena Gardner, President & CEO, JG Black Book of Travel; Alex Gorsky, Chief Executive Officer, Johnson & Johnson; Kenneth Cole, CEO, Kenneth Cole Productions; Dr .Titus Naikuni, MD and CEO, Kenya Airways Ltd; Chip Bergh, President & CEO,Levi Strauss & Co.; Kaushik Shah, CEO/Director, Mabati Rolling Mills Ltd; Kenneth C. Frazier, Chairman and CEO, Merck; Heather Bresch, CEO, Mylan; David J. Stern, Commissioner,National Basketball Association (NBA); Blake Nordstrom, President, Nordstrom, Inc.; Ji Yong, General Manager, Northeast Pharmaceutical Group Co., Ltd; Douglas A. Michels, President & CEO, OraSure Technologies, Inc.; Ian C. Read, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer Inc.; Tzameret Fuerst, CEO, Prepex; Bob Collymore, CEO, Safaricom; Hiromasa Yonekura, Chairman, Sumitomo Chemical; Liam E. McGee, Chairman, President and CEO, The Hartford; James C. Smith, CEO,Thomson Reuters; Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, CEO, Vestergaard Frandsen; Philippe Dauman, President & CEO, Viacom; Dominique Limet, CEO, ViiV Healthcare; Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Unite; Melissa Waggener Zorkin, CEO, President & Founder,  Waggener Edstrom Worldwide; Andy Payne, CEO, Wilderness Holdings Ltd; David Sable, CEO, Y&R; William H. Roedy, AIDS Activist and former Chairman, MTVN International

About GBCHealth
GBCHealth represents over 200 private sector companies leading the business fight for improved global health. Through work that includes developing comprehensive workplace policies; supporting community programs; leveraging core competencies; facilitating leadership and advocacy by business leaders; and brokering public-private partnerships, GBCHealth helps members achieve their global health goals. GBCHealth also manages the private sector delegation to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, serving as an entry-point for corporate collaboration and engagement with the Fund and its recipients worldwide. GBCHealth has offices in New York, Johannesburg, Beijing, Nairobi and Moscow. For more information on GBCHealth, please visit www.gbchealth.org.

About UNAIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) leads and inspires the world to achieve its shared vision of zero new HIV infections, zero discrimination and zero AIDS-related deaths. UNAIDS unites the efforts of 11 UN organizations—UNHCR, UNICEF, WFP, UNDP, UNFPA, UNODC, UN Women, ILO, UNESCO, WHO and the World Bank—and works closely with global and national partners to maximize results for the AIDS response. Learn more at unaids.org and connect with us on Facebook and Twitter.