‘Tigray Malaria Project’ is honored as an innovative public-private collaboration at prestigious Global Business Coalition Award ceremony

• Award commendations and prizes from Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria are given annually to the most effective disease-fighting private sector initiatives
• Tigray Malaria Project was the result of the collaboration among Novartis Italy, the then Italian Ministry of Health (today Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policies), the Tigray Health Bureau (Northern Ethiopia), the World Health Organisation (WHO), San Gallicano Hospital in Rome, and the Italian Dermatological Hospital in Mekelle, Tigray
• Innovative involvement of community health workers delivering Coartem® led to a 52% reduction in the rate of mortality due to malaria

Origgio, Italy, 4 June 2008 – The 'Tigray Malaria Project' will be given a commendation at the 2008 award ceremony of the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. The GBC Awards for Business Excellence are given annually to recognize the most effective private sector initiatives in the fight against these diseases. The ceremony will take place on 9 June in New York, and the honored guest UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon will join the event.

Tigray Malaria Project, which was implemented in 2005-2007, was the result of the collaboration among Novartis Italy, the then Italian Ministry of Health (today Ministry of Labour, Health and Social Policies), the Tigray Health Bureau (Northern Ethiopia), the World Health Organisation (WHO), San Gallicano Hospital in Rome, and the Italian Dermatological Hospital in Mekelle, Tigray.

"It is a great honor to receive such prestigious recognition" commented Mark Never, CEO of Novartis in Italy. "Tigray malaria Project demonstrates our commitment to promoting the right to health throughout the world by tackling the issue at different levels: developing innovative medicines such as Coartem and bringing together the necessary expertise to help identify and prevent the disease at the community level".

Tigray Malaria Project, which involved an investment of 525 000 dollars - 400 000 made available by Novartis Italia and 125 000 by the Italian Government (through the WHO) - covered a vast rural area in which malaria is endemic, and involved a total number of 240 000 people in more than 120 villages. It consisted of a capillary programme of prevention, early diagnosis, treatment and training, and involved the active participation of the people directly affected. They were responsible not only for monitoring the disease, but also for dispensing treatment with Coartem®, an artemisinin-based fixed combination that has become one of the anti-malarial drugs of reference.

One particular characteristic of Tigray Malaria Project was the training of community health workers (CHWs), who were given the task of identifying patients with malaria directly in their villages and treating them promptly with Coartem® tablets (artemether/lumefantrine 20 mg/120 mg). Including CHWs was a decisive step in optimising the use of the drug and monitoring the levels of the spread and progression of the disease. As a result of their contribution, more than 130 000 people were treated during the two years of the project and, as early as the end of the first year, there was already a 52% reduction in the number of deaths in the area due to malaria.

"We're proud to commend Novartis for its outstanding Tigray Malaria Project, which is just the latest component of its remarkable commitment to reducing worldwide mortality due to malaria," said John Tedstrom, Executive Director of GBC.  "Novartis is an integral part of an expanding, cohesive business movement reaching individuals around the world with much-needed treatment and care.  Businesses like Novartis possess the skills, resources and influence to achieve otherwise inconceivable outcomes.  We need many, many more to make their own contribution".

In 2007, Novartis Italy received the Italian Sodalitas Social Award for supporting Tigray Malaria Project. This award is the most important local recognition for corporate social responsibility.