Sanofi-aventis solidarity day in favour of South East Asia: “Sharing in solidarity”

Paris, January 25, 2005 Sanofi-aventis solidarity day in favour of South East Asia “Sharing in solidarity” Sanofi-aventis organizes today, January 25, 2005, a solidarity day in 300 sanofi-aventis sites worldwide to allow Group collaborators to take part in actions undertaken with partner aid agencies in the tsunami-stricken countries. Each employee will be able to share in the movement of solidarity by opting, either to make financial donation to the projects of the villages twinned with his or her site and country, or to sponsor a child by joining an aid charity as a private member. The twinning projects have been selected in close consultation with sanofi-aventis teams and managers in the stricken countries, who have visited the devastated areas in order to find out what is most needed and to meet with partner aid agencies. The associations involved in the twinnings are : - Père Ceyrac Association, - Solidarités, - Isha Foundation, - SEEDS (Sustainable Environment and Ecological Development Society) - UNICEF in Indonesia - Handicap International, - Croix Rouge Thaïlandaise (Thaï Red Cross Society) - Sarvodaya, - Sewalanka. The associations involved in the children sponsorship are : - SOS Villages d’Enfants - Enfants du Mékong. Sanofi-aventis will donate 500,000 euros in order to launch these projects. This amount will be added to employee donations. The day after the disaster, sanofi-aventis endeavoured to meet and satisfy urgently the needs. Group affiliates in stricken countries mobilized to provide with emergency medical supplies to NGO’s and groups in the field, under coordination of the government of each country concerned. On January 2, 2005, Jean-François Dehecq, Chairman and CEO of sanofi-aventis, accompanied Philippe Douste-Blazy, France’s Minister for Health, Solidarity and the Family, on his mission to Sri Lanka, transporting 6 tons of medicines donated by sanofi-aventis, antibiotic, anti-diarrheal and antibacterial medicines. In addition, sanofi-aventis shipped out also to indonesian government, via UNICEF, 600 000 anti-measle vaccines and 150 000 anti-paludism doses. Moreover, an initial donation of 300,000 euros was made to the French Red Cross on December 30, 2004. A donation of 100,000 euros was made on January 4, 2005 to the Association du Père Ceyrac, a charity working in Tamil Nadu in Southern India. Another donation will be done to the sanofi-aventis Group association “Nos enfants, c’est essentiel” in order to help employees affected by the disaster in these countries. ------------------------------------------------------------ Ytterligere informasjon kan hentes på følgende hjemmeside: http://www.waymaker.no