NovartisToday Novartis associates across 55 countries are engaging in local volunteer efforts to support their communities in celebration of the company's annual Community Partnership Day (CPD). This year marks the 18th Community Partnership Day commemorating the 1996 creation of Novartis as a global leader in healthcare. There is strong participation from all Novartis divisions in 2014. Alcon, the Novartis eyecare division, will celebrate Community Partnership Day in conjunction with World Sight Day on October 9, 2014, 5,000 associates are expected to participate.

Significant efforts will take place in major markets such as the United States, China, Brazil, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom, India and Russia. Volunteers are also out in force in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jordan, Lebanon, Nigeria and Iran.

Examples of volunteer service as part of this year's Community Partnership Day include:

  • More than 4,000 associates in Switzerland including 3,400 from the Basel region will participate in a range of voluntary projects in nursing homes and young adult support centers as well undertaking outdoor activities to improve local areas. In Nyon, associates have the option to take part in 12 different activities ranging from helping young adults to gain a foothold in the working world to environmental preservation.
  • In partnership with the UCL & UZ Hospital in Brussels, 250 associates in Belgium will provide support to patients and visitors by staging mini concerts in waiting rooms and organizing clowns to visit hospitalized children. They will give a special thank you to the 'invisible hands' - caregivers and staff.
  • Brazil is linking CPD back to the Novartis mission of caring and curing; 1,500 associates will provide care for Alzheimer patients, promote the leprosy elimination program in Brazil as well as immunization, a healthy lifestyle and animal vaccination.
  • Over 200 associates in Australia will undertake gardening and painting work for local organizations, packing hampers, donation drives and serving food in the community.
  • In Egypt, 150 associates will partner with a local organization helping people with disabilities find suitable employment. Associates will also fundraise for the Misr El Kheir Foundation, an Egyptian NGO working towards the development of Egyptian society in the areas of health, education, social solidarity, while fighting poverty and illiteracy.
  • In Russia, over 340 associates will be cleaning up the local area by collecting rubbish, maintaining gardens, planting flowers and painting outdoor areas.
  • At the Unterach site in Austria, over 100 associates will provide coaching on the job application process as well as offering science based lessons to local school children.
  • In New Jersey, USA 2,000 associates will partner with over 80 non-profit organizations such as the American Cancer Society, the Community FoodBank of New Jersey and The Servant Center, supporting homeless and disabled veterans to find transitional and permanent housing.
  • 250 associates in Mexico will volunteer in a range of activities from reforestation of the local area, visiting orphanages, health screening activities for inhabitants close to the Novartis site and support for the elderly.
  • In Thailand, 80 associates will accompany children from a Bangkok children's home on a day trip. Associates organized an auction and donation boxes to cover the cost of the children's lunch.
  • 260 associates in Spain are expected to donate blood, adapt a farm and farmland to provide housing and jobs to people suffering from intellectual disabilities and partake in sports for the disabled.
  • In Vietnam, over 150 associates will visit a local orphanage where they will organize sporting and craft activities for the children. They will also provide care packages to the poor.

About Novartis
Novartis provides innovative healthcare solutions that address the evolving needs of patients and societies. Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Novartis offers a diversified portfolio to best meet these needs: innovative medicines, eye care, cost-saving generic pharmaceuticals, preventive vaccines, over-the-counter and animal health products. Novartis is the only global company with leading positions in these areas. In 2013, the Group achieved net sales of USD 57.9 billion, while R&D throughout the Group amounted to approximately USD 9.9 billion (USD 9.6 billion excluding impairment and amortization charges). Novartis Group companies employ approximately 135,000 full-time-equivalent associates and sell products in more than 150 countries around the world.