Our Beliefs

One year ago, on January 14, 2010, Pfizer announced that it would provide a combined package of product and monetary donations to aid recovery and relief efforts in earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

In the package, Pfizer pledged up to $1 million in medicinal product donations to relief organizations serving the people of Haiti and a monetary donation of $250,000 that was evenly split between the U.S. Fund for UNICEF and CARE. Product donations, which are being coordinated locally by Pfizer Latin America, will be finalized once authorities in Haiti identify specific needs.

Pfizer’s relief package came less than 48 hours after the Caribbean island nation was struck by a magnitude 7.0 earthquake that leveled the capital of Port-au-Prince one year ago. Authorities were projecting that the quake’s death toll could reach between 45,000 and 50,000, and the Red Cross has estimated that some 3 million people — or a third of the island’s population — have been affected by the earthquake.

CNN has reported that the force of the quake could be felt more than 200 miles away in eastern Cuba.

On YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWd6DBvdNT0

"Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone in Haiti at this time, particularly the many victims and their families," said Jeff Kindler. "We hope our support will help the heroic relief and recovery efforts that are going on now in the wake of this terrible tragedy."

Pfizer does not have facilities or staff in Haiti, and no colleagues were working on the island when the earthquake struck, according to Global Security. An independent distributor who supplies Pfizer products to the Haitian market has been located and is safe.

"In the case of natural disasters, Pfizer's Corporate Responsibility team works with the affected area’s local and regional markets and Public Affairs contacts to coordinate a thorough assessment of the situation based on our disaster relief guidelines," said Caroline Roan, Vice President, Corporate Responsibility. "Based on that, the cross-functional team makes a recommendation to senior leadership about the appropriate financial and in-kind product contributions."

Through the Global Health Fellows Program, Pfizer "loans" its employees to non-profit organizations in the developing world to help address systemic health care challenges, tackling debilitating diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. Through the program, Pfizer colleagues apply for specific positions with Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and are selected by Pfizer and its NGO partners to participate in a three- to six-month work assignment in a developing country in Africa, Asia or Latin America.

Each year, Pfizer Inc. selects up to 40 colleagues from around the world to work on GHF projects. To date, the GHF program has dispatched 155 colleagues from 22 Pfizer country offices worldwide to serve in 31 developing countries.

Last year, 3 Canadian Pfizer employees were selected: Anthony Helou, Giri Ratnasingham and Joan Féthière.

Anthony Helou

Anthony, Project Manager R&D Operations, was assigned to work with IntraHealth International, a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) present in more than 50 countries. IntraHealth specializes in working with communities to develop effective health care and supports health care providers within the context of local needs and resources.

In Senegal, Anthony worked with IntraHealth on a Pfizer-funded project called "Mobilize Against Malaria" (MAM). According to the World Health Organization, malaria is the second highest cause of death for Senegalese of all ages and accounts for a quarter of deaths among children under five.

Giri Ratnasingham

Giri, Associate Director, Business Technology/Strategic Business Solutions, recently completed a six-month assignment as a Pfizer Global Health Fellow (GHF) for the International AIDS Society (IAS) in Geneva.

The centerpiece of Giri's work hinged on the IAS AIDS Conference. The IAS is the custodian of the world's premier gathering on HIV and AIDS, the International AIDS Conference, which takes place every two years. During his assignment, Giri helped the IAS leverage the value of this conference through the idea of Distance Learning Centers at universities or other institutions. These DLC hubs (classrooms or similar facilities in existing educational or research institutions) would ideally be located in key areas of Africa and allow AIDS community professionals to come together and connect with the AIDS conference via the Internet and/or other transmission methods. This would be the framework for sharing vital information emanating from the IAS AIDS conference and making it widely available to people who couldn't attend the conference in person. To develop the concept, Giri made a field trip to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) Mandela School of Medicine, Durban, South Africa, which was chosen as the first DLC test hub.

Joan Féthière

Joan, a Clinical Research Site Manager, recently completed a six-month assignment in Uganda with the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI), a global not-for-profit organization whose mission is to ensure the development of safe, effective, accessible, preventive HIV vaccines for use throughout the world.

IAVI is currently working in Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda, and Zambia, where it is collaborating with local partners to collect epidemiological data and to build capacity for future large-scale clinical trials. Joan's work involved providing Good Clinical Practices (GCP) and CRA training as well as performing co-monitoring visits with IAVI's CRAs and providing monitoring tools and tips.

Pfizer Canada is partnering with the Fonds de la recherche en santé du Québec (FRSQ) to establish a major public-private venture—the Pfizer-FRSQ Innovation Fund—designed to boost human health research in the province and accelerate the commercialization of public research projects with market potential. The partnership was announced on March 17th, 2008.

Under the five-year agreement, Pfizer will invest $10 million to help fund Quebec health research. The funds will be allocated by the FRSQ, a provincial non-profit funding agency which provides financial support to researchers and develops partnerships with universities, colleges, healthcare institutions and government departments.

Some 3,000 Quebec public researchers could be eligible to submit projects under the fund criteria: meeting the health needs of Quebecers and offering maximum potential for technology transfer or commercialization in the short or medium term. Among the priorities identified for the fund are: HIV/AIDS and infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, mental health, inflammation, pain, and chronic disease management.

Groundbreaking new certification recognizes Pfizer as a healthy workplace

Pfizer Canada received the Healthy Enterprise - Elite certification in April, a standard granted by the Bureau de normalisation du Québec (BNQ). Think of it as something like an ISO standard, but which evaluates the company's approach to the health of its employees (and is, in fact, based on ISO requirements).

It is thanks largely to its health and wellness program that Pfizer Canada obtained Healthy Enterprise - Elite certification. Pfizer Canada's employee health and well-being program, VIVA, which was launched in May 2007, is an integrated program centred on disease prevention, awareness of healthy living and employee support. The program promotes healthy lifestyle habits in various areas, such as nutrition, physical activity, work-life balance, and stress management. The VIVA program is aimed at inspiring employees to look after themselves and at helping them achieve their wellness objectives, whatever they might be.

The certification evaluates companies on how they help employees become healthier and more productive through programs and policies which fall under four categories: employee lifestyle habits, work-life balance, working environment and management practices. Examples include implementing programs on nutrition and physical activity, work-life balance policies, flexible hours, daycare at work, and management practices that promote professional development and employee recognition.