Contributions highlights

In 2008, AstraZeneca donated $41.4 million in contributions to nonprofit organizations across the US, raising health awareness and improving patient health.

AstraZeneca supports an array of community programs and initiatives with nonprofit organizations that are primarily dedicated to disease awareness and prevention, education and research improving access to healthcare.

Contribution highlights:

Preventing Heart Disease

• AstraZeneca is the national pharmaceutical sponsor of Start! – the American Heart Association’s (AHA) national movement to encourage all Americans to live longer, stronger lives by taking up walking and other healthy habits in and out of the workplace.
• AstraZeneca is the first corporate sponsor of the Super Weekends program, an initiative hosted by the Association of Black Cardiologists, Inc. (ABC), focused on training community leaders about cardiovascular health and to educate their local communities.
• AstraZeneca became the first corporate sponsor of the Hispanic Cardiologists Network, a leadership group of Hispanic cardiologists led by the National Alliance for Hispanic Health and American College of Cardiology. The group focuses on identifying key actions for advancing cardiovascular health in Hispanic populations.
• AstraZeneca launched the US AGAINST ATHERO (UAA) campaign, a bilingual, national education program to raise awareness of atherosclerosis – the buildup of plaque in the arteries – and how this chronic, progressive disease can lead to heart attack, stroke and other dangerous consequences.

Supporting Cancer Patients and their Families

• As one of the leading makers of oncology medicines, AstraZeneca understands the challenges of cancer. To improve patient outcomes we joined forces with the American Cancer Society to help fund the Patient Navigator Program.  This program connects individuals affected by cancer to navigators who will help them throughout their cancer experience. With AstraZeneca’s funding, the American Cancer Society will accelerate the opening of 50 new Patient Navigator sites in the next five years.
• In 2007 AstraZeneca funded the construction of two AstraZeneca Hope Lodge Centers, which provide a home away from home for cancer patients and their families who must travel to receive treatment.  With construction completed in October 2008, AstraZeneca Hope Lodge Center opened in Boston, MA and one is scheduled to open in Philadelphia, PA in 2009.  

Fighting the Stigma of Mental Illness

• AstraZeneca continued its support of one of its signature initiatives, the National Alliance on Mental Illness’ Connection Recover Support Group, launching programs in more than 30 states by the end of 2008.  AstraZeneca also continued its co-sponsorship with The JED Foundation, the leading nonprofit college suicide prevention charity.

Making a Life with Asthma Easier

• AstraZeneca and The American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) provided free asthma screenings using spirometry in 250 communities nationwide.  Now in its 12th year, the Nationwide Asthma Screening Program has screened more than 120,000 people and referred over 50 percent of them to their family physician for further evaluation.  AstraZeneca is also the national sponsor of The American Lung Association’s “Breathe Well, Live Well: An Asthma Management Program for Adults.”  

Reducing Healthcare Disparities for African Americans and Hispanics

• Physicians with diverse backgrounds are essential to clinical trials because they understand the treatment needs of diverse patients. To bring more diverse physician and consumer participation in clinical trials, AstraZeneca continued its work with the National Medical Association (Project IMPACT) and the Interamerican College of Physicians and Surgeons (Hispanic Research Network).  In 2008, the NMA recognized AstraZeneca with its “Corporate Circle Award,” which is given only to companies who serve as outstanding corporate partners and are committed to the health and wellness of African Americans. AstraZeneca was also the only pharmaceutical company to receive three awards at the NMA’s 2008 Annual Convention & Scientific Assembly.
• AstraZeneca supported the Center for Information and Study on Clinical Research Participation (CISCRP) to develop general clinical trial awareness and education materials as well as those targeted at asthma and other respiratory diseases for the African-American and Hispanic population.
• AstraZeneca’s support of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation health education programs is another example of our commitment to making a difference in healthcare within communities across the nation. We support CBCF’s initiative, the Black Healthy Empowerment Project (BHEP), a program designed to educate African Americans about the relationship between obesity and the chronic health conditions that disproportionately plague diverse and minority communities. It also focuses on the importance of prevention and wellness. The program is intended to motivate African Americans to adopt healthy eating habits and participate in regular physical activity, as well as empower the African American community to take advantage of healthcare options available through their physician and other local healthcare professionals.

Extending Our Care to the Communities We Serve

• AstraZeneca strives to improve the health of the communities where our people live and work, particularly in our facilities’ backyards of Delaware and Massachusetts. We provided more than $1.6 million in contributions to healthcare organizations in and around our US headquarters in Delaware.
• Delaware, like other states across the country, is striving to help uninsured people in its state. Nearly 11 percent of Delaware’s population — 101,000 Delawareans — is uninsured and struggles to find access to health care, which has serious consequences for patient health. In 2008, AstraZeneca continued to support Healthy Delawareans Today & Tomorrow, a public-private coalition focused on helping people without health insurance to learn about and gain access to the free or low-cost healthcare services. To date, the coalition has linked more than 13,000 uninsured Delawareans to free and low-cost healthcare services, medication assistance programs and other support services.  In addition, AstraZeneca continued to fund navigator positions for people to work as case managers at community health centers to help the uninsured access healthcare facilities and services.  
• Throughout 2008, AstraZeneca and the Delaware Public Policy Institute (DPPI) convened two summits on identifying short-term coverage solutions for Delaware.  As a result of the discussions, DPPI released a consensus report, “Small State, Big Opportunity: Taking Action for the Uninsured”, and a follow-up report. Both reports were distributed to more than 300 public and private sector leaders throughout the state.

AstraZeneca in Massachusetts

• In 2008, AstraZeneca again sponsored the annual Compassionate Caregiver Award presented by the Boston-based Kenneth B. Schwartz Center, which offers training and support programs nationally for clinical professionals in multiple medical settings.
• AstraZeneca’s commitment to patients and the community is evident in the strategic and comprehensive partnership the company has with the New England Division of the American Cancer Society (ACS).  The programs that AstraZeneca support include the AstraZeneca Hope Lodge Center in Boston, Patient Navigator program at Massachusetts General Hospital, annual Flagship sponsorship for Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk, as well as the Research Challenge in New England with ACS and the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council.