Pfizer's Commitment to Healthier Communities

Pfizer Canada is proud a major supporter of Health Partners International of Canada (HPIC), a Canadian agency providing medicines, vaccines and medical supplies to the developing world.  Programs include emergency response and disaster relief efforts, community health projects and hand-carried medical packs by Canadian healthcare professionals on humanitarian missions.  Annually, we donate needed medicines such as antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, anti-fungals and anti-convulsants that are specially requested by HPIC.  Through this partnership, Pfizer Canada has donated over $50 million worth of medicines to bring relief in over 115 countries.

As an ongoing major corporate sponsor of the Canadian Paralympic Team, Pfizer Canada takes great pride in the athletes’ remarkable achievements, both at the Paralympic Games and at the game of life. Paralympic athletes are more than just elite competitors; they are superb role models as well. Through their desire and determination, these true sport heroes encourage others – with disabilities and without – to go for the gold in all areas of their lives.

Dedicated to empowering today's youth to save lives, the Advanced Coronary Treatment Foundation brings CPR and Defibrillator training programs to high schools across the country.  Co-funded by Pfizer Canada, the program gives students the life-saving skills, knowledge and confidence they need to act as first responders.  Students learn the early warning signs of medical emergencies like heart attacks and strokes, how to react, and the practical skills of CPR, the Heimlich Manoeuvre and AR (artificial respiration).

For over 12 years, Pfizer has been supporting the foundation in many of its endeavours aimed to help sick children.  These include Great Escapes, a program that organizes outings for sick kids and their families across Canada, Hospital Happenings, a program that supplies pediatric hospitals and wards in Canada with activities such as clown visits and magic shows at least 4 times per year, over 250 Fun Centers placed in pediatric hospitals across the country that let kids enjoy video games such as Nintendo and Wii, Starlight Sites, bright and decorative rooms where hospital-bound children can go to relax and interact with one another, as well as over 200 Wish grants annually.  Through these programs, Starlight touches the lives of over 12,000 children every month. Pfizer is proud to play a role in the organization's work in bringing smiles to sick children.

Pfizer Canada is proud to support United Way and Centraide through an annual employee driven campaign. The campaign, which runs in October, provides employees with an opportunity to get involved and help make a difference in their community by supporting their local United Way or Centraide office through payroll deduction.  Pfizer matches employee donations dollar for dollar.

In response to a need for information about clinical trials, Pfizer Canada is proud to support the Canadian Breast Cancer Network in the development of a Webpage outlining what women living with breast cancer need to know about clinical trials. The site will also contain plain language descriptions of ongoing and new clinical trials that are still accruing patients, with an emphasis on trials for women living with metastatic breast cancer.

Pfizer Canada Inc. is very please to support the Canadian Lung Association in the development and maintenance of a database.

In order to link more Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder (COPD) and Asthma health consumers to more of the services available to them, The Lung Association wishes to modernize their database and to update and expand the information available to the public. This will include moving to a new online database platform that will provide enhanced functionality and growth capacity as well as expanding and validating the contents to include listings from across the country of all current:

• COPD rehabilitation programs,
• COPD support groups,
• Asthma clinics,
• Asthma education programs, and
• Spirometry testing

With a user friendly interface on the lung.ca website Canadians will be able to search the database to find COPD and Asthma diagnostic, education, management and support services in any location in the country. The Lung Association staff will be able to use the database to provide this information to those consumers who phone in, or attend Lung Association offices in person. Further, with an efficient well designed process to verify and update the database on a regular basis, healthcare professionals and consumers can be assured the information they receive will be current and accurate.

Pfizer is a proud sponsor of the Alzheimer Society of Canada's First Link Program. The First Link Program aims to link newly diagnosed people with Alzheimer's disease or dementia and their families, to a community of learning, services and support. The program is unique because it is the Society reaching out to people in the community. Most people are first connected to the First Link Program after being referred by a health professional. After the referral occurs, the Society reaches out to the person with dementia, or their caregiver. People often hesitate to make the call for help, so the Society takes the first step with their First Link Program.

Once contact has been made, people have the opportunity to learn about various resources and are encouraged to attend an educational series about the various stages of dementia. Through education and support they dispell the myths of the disease and get a true picture of what dementia is. Caregivers walk away with a good perspective on the disease and how to cope.