Pfizer's global health programme awarded Best International Ambassador award

The Pfizer Global Health Partnerships programme was presented the 2011 Business Civic Leadership Center's Corporate Citizenship Award in the Best International Ambassador, in Washington DC yesterday.

The Awards honour excellence in corporate citizenship and civic leadership for initiatives in both the United States and across the world.

"The essence of a successful corporate social responsibility programme is when it becomes a model that other companies want to imitate," said US Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center founder and executive director Stephen Jordan.

The Pfizer Global Health Partnerships (GHP) combines the philanthropic and in-kind resources of the Pfizer Foundation and Pfizer Inc to combat non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by strengthening healthcare systems and infrastructure to support cancer and tobacco control efforts.

The fight against NCDs and their risk factors, such as tobacco use, has largely been neglected in overseas development aid to low and middle income countries. Only 2 per cent of the more than $44 billion in aid has been devoted to fighting these diseases in the developing world. Pfizer and the Pfizer Foundation through GHP have invested $47 million over four years in promising cancer and tobacco-control partner organisations operating in 46 countries.

"Through Pfizer's Global Health Partnerships, Pfizer supports the growth of promising cancer- and tobacco-control organisations united by the shared mission of accelerating the pace of progress in the fight against cancer," said Caroline Roan, vice president, corporate responsibility and president of the Pfizer Foundation.

"Pfizer is proud to be awarded Best International Ambassador Award and for its commitment to foster a culture of results-oriented discovery and innovation," Roan added.

The Business Civic Leadership Centre is the US Chamber of Commerce's resource and voice for businesses' social and philanthropic interests. The Chamberis the world's largest business federation representing the interests of more than three million businesses of all sizes, sectors, and regions, as well as state and local chambers and industry associations.