AstraZeneca Annual Report and Form 20-F Information 2008

In the developing world

Whilst we remain committed to making a contribution to improving healthcare in the developing world, we believe that real progress can only be made through the commitment of all the related stakeholders, including governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the international community, as well as the private sector.

The medicines in our range today are not relevant to the treatment of tuberculosis (TB), HIV/AIDS and malaria, the most significant healthcare problems that many developing world countries are currently facing, but we are applying our skills and resources to helping in other ways.

DEDICATED RESEARCH

We have a dedicated scientific resource in Bangalore, India that focuses on finding a new, improved treatment for TB – a major cause of illness and death worldwide, especially in Asia and Africa. AstraZeneca is the only major pharmaceutical company with a research programme in India totally dedicated to TB. Further information can be found in the Infection section of the Therapy Area Review.

WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP

As well as the availability of appropriate medicines, effective healthcare depends on having a functional healthcare system in place that ensures medicines are used to full effect as part of overall health management. In some parts of the developing world, this is a particular challenge. To help meet this challenge, we continue to partner with NGOs and other organisations working with local communities to strengthen their healthcare capabilities.

Key principles for these partnerships are that they lead to positive measurable outcomes, can be scaled up and potentially replicated to improve outcomes for a greater number, and can deliver a sustainable framework that can ultimately be owned and managed locally without the need for our continued support. We also aim to ensure that such partnerships can contribute to AstraZeneca’s business development, by enabling us to understand better the health needs, and build important relationships in future markets.

Our long-standing partnership with the British Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies includes support to programmes in Central Asia that are helping to combat TB and improve the quality of life of people living with TB and TB/HIV co-infection in the hard-hit areas of Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan. Work is community-based and progress to date includes over 7,500 people successfully completing their TB treatment, with treatment completion rates exceeding 90% among the most poor and vulnerable, and public awareness campaigns that have reached over one million people. Overall, this work is contributing to the implementation of national programmes that are leading to a stabilisation and reduction in the incidence of TB in these countries.

Our partnership with the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) is focused on developing a model for the integrated management of TB, HIV/AIDS and malaria at both national and local levels in Uganda, where there is high incidence of all three diseases. This integrated management approach has not been widely addressed previously and we are one of the few organisations involved in such work. A pilot programme is now underway in the high incidence areas of Luwero and Kiboga districts of central Uganda. Progress includes increased detection rates (from 59% in March to 73% in June in the Luwero district) and the training of village health teams in 14 villages. Work with the district health teams is also delivering better health planning and co-ordination.

In Ethiopia, our partnership with Axios is focused on building local capability in managing breast cancer – the second most common cancer among young women in that country. The project has focused on strengthening diagnosis and treatment capabilities, including the creation of previously unavailable treatment protocols and standardised reporting guidelines for use across the country.

Our support to Voluntary Service Overseas (VSO) includes the secondment of a senior manager to the organisation to help them further develop their strategy and framework for delivering their health goals. We also fund VSO volunteers working to build local healthcare capabilities in underserved communities across Africa and Asia. Alongside this, we are enabling our employees to volunteer for placements in appropriate countries to support VSO, drawing on the broad range of skills they can offer in human resources, finance, IT and communications, as well as health and medicine.

More information about these partnerships and our other activities worldwide is available on our website, astrazeneca.com/responsibility.

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