Novartis International AG / Novartis celebrates 20th annual Community Partnership Day with more than 27,500 associates volunteering in their local communities . Processed and transmitted by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.

  • More than 27,500 Novartis associates worldwide dedicate an estimated 220,000  hours to volunteer with charitable causes in their communities
     
  • Community Partnership Day symbolizes the company's commitment to improving health and serving its local communities 
     
  • 20th annual volunteer event organized to commemorate the creation of Novartis in 1996 and commitment to discover new ways to improve and extend people's lives

Basel, April 28, 2016 - Today, in celebration of the company's annual Community Partnership Day, more than 27,500 Novartis associates across 84 countries are supporting local communities, social institutions and nonprofit organizations with projects which emphasize the Novartis commitment to social responsibility.

This year marks the 20th annual Community Partnership Day, which commemorates the 1996 creation of Novartis as a global leader in healthcare, and demonstrates the company's heritage and commitment to discover new ways to improve and extend people's lives. 

Community Partnership Day gives associates the opportunity to dedicate their work day to volunteer in the local communities where they live and work. Associates are volunteering with local organizations in six continents and 84 countries, including Switzerland, the United States, Canada, France, Malaysia, China, Mali, Russia, Slovenia, Taiwan, UAE, Brazil and Finland.

In Switzerland, for example, around 3,400 associates across different sites and divisions will participate in a range of voluntary activities in family support centers, assisted living facilities and nursing homes as well as undertaking excursions with ill and handicapped children.

In the United States, more than 5,000 associates will be volunteering with non-government organizations in activities ranging from supporting athletes at the Special Olympics, building low income housing with Habitat for Humanity, blood donation drives, manual labor for educational and nursing institutions, building hands-on vegetable gardens for young adults with severe paralysis living in a facility that offers independent living and packaging of medical supplies for more than four million people throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

Other examples of volunteer service as part of this year's Community Partnership Day include: 

  • More than 250 associates in Australia will be, among other activities, supporting Transplant Australia, a national charity representing transplant recipients, donor families, living donors and all those touched by organ and tissue donation and transplantation, to help prepare for the Australian Transplant Games 2016. Associates will also spend their day with the Youth off the Streets organization supporting local outreach as well as partnering with the Australian Red Cross to support those suffering from thalassemia.
     
  • In Austria, more than 800 associates will be volunteering in varying activities across the country. Associates in Vienna are continuing their long-standing volunteer partnership with Caritas Socialis by taking wheelchair-bound residents, Multiple Sclerosis and Alzheimer patients on day excursions.
     
  • Associates in Bangladesh will volunteer for a local organization which caters to the need of visually impaired children from underprivileged backgrounds. Volunteers will help provide health screening services to the children with the support of in-house doctors and run several storytelling events with the children.
     
  • In Canada, over 600 associates will be undertaking a wide variety of activities such as volunteering with a foundation that trains guide dogs to assist Canadians with a medical or physical disability and donating their time to several other local community and patient centers.
     
  • In Ireland, more than 150 associates will be partnering with eight local organizations to support, among others, patients suffering from Multiple Sclerosis, the carers of children suffering from cancer and stroke victims.
     
  • More than 1,600 associates in Indonesia will participate in a blood donation drive and health screening activities for their local community. Associates will also be providing basic health education sessions.
     
  • Associates in Kenya are visiting the pediatric oncology ward at Kenyatta National Hospital to spend time with children and distribute toys. Associates will also be exploring home-schooling options for children who are long-term patients at the hospital.
     
  • Associates in Sweden have partnered up with Vision For All (VFA), an organization that offers support to people suffering from visual impairments in developing countries. Volunteers will clean, register and measure glasses which will be donated to patients in need.
     
  • Associates in Taiwan will be accompanying the blind on a hiking excursion in the local area.

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 and cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2015, the Group achieved net sales of USD 49.4 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 8.9 billion (USD 8.7 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 118,000 full-time-equivalent associates. Novartis products are available in more than 180 countries around the world. For more information, please visit http://www.novartis.com.

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Novartis Media Relations

Central media line : +41 61 324 2200  

Patrick Barth

Novartis Global Media Relations
+41 61 696 6273 (direct)
+41 79 732 0801 (mobile)
patrick.barth@novartis.com
 
   

e-mail: media.relations@novartis.com


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Source: Novartis International AG via Globenewswire

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Novartis International AG
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