Sanofi-aventis is committed to fighting diseases that affect people in developing countries and support numerous programs:

• Impact Malaria   
  
  A program to combat one of the main diseases affecting developing  countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.
   
• Partnership with the World Health Organisation (WHO)   
  
  Providing financial support to WHO to fight neglected tropical diseases - African Sleeping Sickness, Leishmaniasis, Buruli ulcer and Chagas disease - affecting the world's poorest populations:
  
  The first program to fight sleeping sickness was set up in 2001 and close to 110,000 liveshave been saved. The African Union declared in 2005 that eliminating sleeping sickness from the list of major public health problems was now a realistic objective
   
• Partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation  
  
  A partnership with the Nelson Mandela Foundation in South Africa and the Ministry of Health, to create skills centres and train health workers to counsel tuberculosis patients and to ensure treatment adherence.
   
• Contributions towards the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI)   
  
  An alliance between private sector, WHO and UNICEF to work towards global immunisation of all children. Some key achievements of GAVI include:
  
  • 1.9 million premature deaths prevented
  • Approximately 90 million additional children immunised against Hepatitis B
  • Approximately 13 million additional children were protected against diptheria, tetanus and pertussis.                       

Refugee Children of The World program

Sanofi-aventis provide support to the non-government organisation, Refugee Children Of The World. Many parents in developing countries believe games are a waste of time and that instead their children should be spending their time helping them in the fields. With our support, the organisation has set up 13 activity centres in Cambodia to teach more than 2,700 children how to play games again and show their parents the benefits of games to their children’s health and life.

My Child Matters initiative

A joint initiative between the International Union Against Cancer (the only international non-governmental organisation that is dedicated solely to the global control of cancer) and sanofi-aventis. The aim of the initiative is to fight childhood cancer in countries where paediatric oncology is still an underdeveloped field.

Sanofi-aventis has been the driving force behind a number of global operations, which have subsequently been supervised and carried out by its employees. In the wake of the devastating tsunamis of 26 December 2004, which killed more than 300,000 people and created a humanitarian disaster on an unprecedented scale, sanofi-aventis employees responded immediately with emergency funding and drug donations. This was followed by the launch of the "Sharing in Solidarity" program to provide long-term support to the stricken populations of South East Asia.

Sanofi-aventis supports many community initiatives, such as:

• Medication Management Program with Council On The Ageing (COTA)
  The aim of the program is to inform and encourage older people to use medicines wisely. The program consists of educational seminars run nationally in seniors groups and club networks by trained volunteers. 
   
• Salvation Army women’s refuge centre
  Ongoing donations by sanofi-aventis to the Salvation Army to allow them to open The Orana Lodge refuge centre for women and children fleeing abuse.  
   
• Pharmacy Practice Foundation
  The Foundation promotes teaching, research and debate in the area of pharmacy practice. Sanofi-aventis sponsor two initiatives. The first is the position of Lecturer in Clinical Pharmacy who lectures in pharmacy practice and undertakes pharmacy research. The second initiative is the Pharmacy Medal of Excellence. 
   
• Events for special needs children
  Magic Mania is a unique and entertaining show held annually in Sydney. Sanofi-aventis provides funding for special needs children from around Sydney and regional NSW (who through no fault of their own have limited opportunities to enjoy such outings) to attend the shows.
   
  Funding is also provided to the Special Children Christmas Party charity to hold annual Christmas parties in various Australian states. 
   
• Product donations
  Providing our medicines to developing countries through World Vision and the Overseas Pharmaceutical Aid for Life.
  
  Compassionate supply programs. These programs provide some patients who need our medicines, access to our medicines free of charge. These programs are approved on a case by case basis.       

Sanofi-aventis has a proud history of working with Health Consumer Organisations (HCOs). 

Forming partnerships with HCOs allows us to better understand the needs and expectations of patients through dialogue and exchange of know-how. We partner with HCOs to help address the broader issues along the patient journey, such as prevention, awareness, enhancing the quality use of medicines and supporting better health outcomes.

Sanofi-aventis is committed to applying the principles of Medicines Australia Working Together Guide to ensure that our relationships with HCOs are based on the following components:

• respect for independence,
• achieving and maintaining public trust,
• fairness,
• openness and transparency, and
• accountability.      

Click here to see the list of HCOs to which sanofi-aventis has provided financial support since 2009.

The program is made up of three components:

1. Corporate Volunteering – employees are given one day per year to participate in corporate volunteering projects.
2. Workplace Giving - staff have been given the opportunity to regularly donate a part of their salary to a charity and the company has committed to matching staff contributions dollar for dollar.
3. Community Service Abroad – providing staff with the opportunity to take one months leave on full pay, to work in a local or overseas disadvantaged area of their choice.