AstraZeneca Annual Report and Form 20-F Information 2008

In the global community

Wherever AstraZeneca is located worldwide, we aim to make a positive contribution to our local communities through charitable donations, sponsorships and other initiatives that help to make a difference. Our activities focus on bringing sustainable benefit in ways that are consistent with our business of improving health and quality of life, and on promoting the value of science among young people.

In 2008, we spent a total of $718 million (2007: $588 million) on community sponsorships and charitable donations worldwide, including $646 million of product donations, valued at average wholesale prices (2007: $518 million).

We also contribute where possible to disaster relief efforts. During 2008, following the earthquake tragedy in China, we committed a total of $2 million to the immediate relief effort and to a longer-term programme designed to help the affected communities rebuild their lives. Following the devastating cyclone in Myanmar (Burma), we committed a further $200,000 to increase Red Cross emergency relief stocks held in the charity’s regional Disaster Response Centre in Kuala Lumpur, which was originally established with $700,000 of funding from AstraZeneca in 2005.