Novartis Italy’s Project Tigray wins the Sodalitas Social Award
June 15, 2007 - Project Malaria in Tigray, the result of an agreement between Novartis Italy and the Italian Ministry of Health, has won the Sodalitas Social Award 2007, the prestigious award dedicated to the Italian companies that are most committed to social responsibility and sustainability.
The award was presented during the meeting “Responsibility and sustainability: a strategy for success”, which was held in Milan on 13 June. Upon receiving the award, the Country President of Novartis Italy, Marco Venturelli, declared: “We are very proud of this award because it underlines the capacity of Novartis to offer concrete and innovative responses to health emergencies, and confirms the validity of our approach based on collaboration with public institutions, qualified experts and the authorities in order to ensure that patients themselves play an active and knowing role in looking after their own health.”
Project Malaria in Tigray is a humanitarian initiative in the fight against malaria that was born of a public/private partnership – the first of its kind in Italy – between Novartis Italy and the Italian Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the WHO, the San Gallicano Dermatological Institute in Rome, the Tigray Health Office, and the Italian hospital in Mekelle, Ethiopia. The two-year program was launched in 2005, and foresees the free distribution of diagnostic tests and the anti-malarial drug Coartem to a population of almost 200,000 people living in the Ethiopian region of Tigray, where malaria is endemic. The program is based on a highly innovative formula that sees the direct involvement of the local communities in controlling and preventing the disease. The investment over the two years has been about 525,000 dollars, 125,000 of which was provided by the Italian Government and 400,000 by Novartis.
The results of the project have been very positive in terms of fighting the spread of the disease in this vast region of Ethiopia. At the end of the first year, 33 villages were involved, the same number of healthcare workers had completed their training, 48,000 people had been treated in loco with Coartem, and another 32,000 inside the various healthcare facilities. The preliminary data show that managing malaria at community level has substantially reduced the rates of mortality and hospitalization.
The Sodalitas Social Award is an annual national award for companies that have distinguished themselves by implementing programs of great social value and which manage their activities in a sustainable manner. Every year, it gives visibility to companies committed to Corporate Social Responsibility. The award was first introduced in 2002 by Sodalitas, an association of Italian companies and managers created in 1995 with the aim of promoting corporate social responsibility, supporting the managerial development of no-profit bodies, social cooperatives, voluntary organizations and organizations of international cooperation. This year saw a record entry for the Sodalitas Social Award, with 271 projects and 225 companies competing. Seven awards were made in the seven categories of social responsibility and sustainable management of company activities.