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GSK giving figures exeed £300m for fourth year running: medicines for Lymphatic Filariasis elimination valued at £16 million


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GlaxoSmithKline today announced its global giving to charitable initiatives totalled £302 million, equivalent to almost 4% of pre-tax profits for the company (with the FTSE 100 average around 1%). GSK has been the largest charitable giver on the FTSE 100 since GSK was formed in 2000. Donations of albendazole for the Company’s flagship programme to eliminate Lymphatic Filariasis were valued at £16 million, with 155 million albendazole treatments delivered to 34 countries around the world. Cash grants of £1 million were also made to support this major programme.


GSK supports health and education programmes in more than 100 countries through donations of medicines and through long-term partnerships that provide financial and practical support. The £302 million investment includes product donations valued at £238 million, cash giving of £46 million and other in-kind donations, such as equipment, valued at £3 million. The costs to manage and deliver the programmes were £15 million.


Commenting on the figures JP Garnier, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline said: “I have seen first hand the difference our investment into community programmes is making. Our partnerships offer more than a helping hand; they are transforming the lives and prospects of people all over the world. Improving access to medicines remains a key priority for GSK, both through innovative approaches such as the voluntary licences we have issued in sub-Saharan Africaand our well established Patient Assistance Programme in the US.


“Our commitment over the long term is in evidence this year with Positive Action, our HIV community programme, and the IMPACT Awards reaching 15 and 10 year anniversaries respectively. GlaxoSmithKline is a global leader in charitable giving and our commitment remains undiminished.”


Value of medicines donated at £238m. This comprised:

· £22 million of humanitarian product donations for international relief efforts, including the Indonesian earthquake and the conflict in the Middle East. In each case GSK provided large quantities of essential medicines through a proven crisis response process that was activated immediately to support the relief efforts.

· Since the Lymphatic Filariasis elimination programme started in 1998 the Company has donated 600 million treatments. Working with the World Health Organization and other partners, the aim is to eliminate this disease by 2020.

· £200 million provided via the Patient Assistance Program (PAP) for low income groups in the USA.


Cash donations of £46 million; these supported mainly health (44%) and education (38%) initiatives through partnerships with hundreds of charitable organisations. These include:

· Over £20 million was directed to global and local health programmes. With GSK funding the Malaria Consortium is delivering ‘Mobilising for Malaria’, a programme to increase awareness and mobilise resources for this killer disease. GSK’s Positive Action for HIV/AIDS delivered effective education, prevention and health care services in 17 countries. Other grants were awarded to the US-based Children’s Health Fund, where the company supports the referral of homeless children for specialist health care and to the Princess Royal Trust for Carers ‘Out of Hospital’ initiative in the UK.

· Donations of almost £17.5 million supported education programmes, including science education and literacy. Through ‘PUPPETS: Talking Science - Engaging Science’ school children in 4,500 UKprimary schools will use puppets to help increase their understanding of science. GSK’s ‘Science in the Summer’ enables 6000 children to participate in hands-on experiments in Philadelphia libraries, while a $1 million endowment made to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards aims to increase the number of certified science teachers across the US.


In addition to the company donations GlaxoSmithKline employees contributed more than £3.8 million to charities in the UKand US through employee-organised giving programmes. Many also gave their own time and skills to their local communities.


Improving healthcare for the developing world
We believe GSK remains the only company researching both new vaccines and treatments for HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria - the World Health Organization’s three priority diseases. In total GSK has 14 clinical research and development programmes against nine diseases that disproportionately affect the developing world. These include vaccines for HIV/AIDS, malaria, TB meningitis and dengue fever, as well as treatments for malaria and viseral leishmaniasis.


GSK is also committed to providing our antiretrovirals and malaria treatments at no profit for the world’s least developed countries and all of sub-Saharan Africa– a total of 64 countries. This commitment has seen steady growth in the shipment of our antiretrovirals, Combivir and Epivir, at not for profit prices. In 2006, 206 million tablets of Combivir and Epivir were supplied to the developing world. 86 million of these came directly from GSK and a further 120 million were supplied by generic companies in sub–Saharan Africathat have received voluntary licences from GSK. Over the past five years, GSK has negotiated eight voluntary licences to generic companies in sub-Saharan Africa.


In February 2007, GSK received the Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Award from the USbased Committee Encouraging Corporate Philanthropy.



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