Our performance

In 2011, we spent a total of $1.27 billion (2010: $1.41 billion) on community sponsorships, partnerships and charitable donations worldwide, including our product donation and patient assistance programmes which make our medicines available free of charge or at reduced prices. Through our three patient assistance programmes in the US we donated products valued at an average wholesale price of over $938,000,000 (2010: $1.38 billion). We also donated product valued at over $8,200,000 average wholesale price to charitable organisations Americares and Direct Relief International.

In line with our Responsible Business Plan, we have continued to expand the Young Health Programme. We have nine local programmes now running. This is one less than targeted for 2011 but we have 11 more programmes in development with some of these due to launch early in 2012 and the others before the end of the year. Our target for engagement was that 35% of employees would feel positively motivated towards the business from their contact with the Young Health Programmes, either through learning about the programme or actively supporting the programme. Through a sample survey¹, we found that of those employees who said that they were either “proud “or “very proud” to work for AstraZeneca, 46% said that community investment activities including Young Health Programme contributed to this level of pride. .

Our 2011 community investment is reported in line with London Benchmarking Group standards and our community investment score in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index showed an improvement compared to 2010, although there is still room for further improvement in 2012.

Our global Community Support Policy focuses our community investment on healthcare in our local communities and in vulnerable communities or to support science education for young people. Exceptions are permissible with senior manager approval. 97% of our patient group support was covered by a written agreement in 2011, as required by our Policy which we also updated in 2011 to require a written agreement for all forms of support. There were no cases reported of serious breaches of our Policy in 2011.

¹ Methodology: Quantitative survey - Total respondents 1668. Random sample of 1,693 employees in each of 11 countries invited to complete survey- Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, India, Netherlands, Russia, South Africa, Sweden, Turkey, UK. Countries selected represented varying stages of involvement with YHP from no involvement to programme launched. Criteria for sample-permanent employees with service of six months or more with AstraZeneca and currently based in country surveyed and non-SET member and with AstraZeneca direct e mail contact details. USA survey to follow early 2012.

Disaster relief

During 2011, we made a number of contributions to disaster relief efforts, including donations from our Charities Aid Foundation (CAF) account. We also developed an enhanced protocol for working with the British Red Cross, our global disaster relief partner, to improve our internal co-ordination and enable us to respond in a timely, consistent and effective way to emergencies as and when they arise.

This protocol was used to inform the following contributions to disaster relief efforts during the year:

• From our CAF account, we donated £10,000 (approximately $16,000) to the British Red Cross New Zealand Earthquake Appeal and £100,000 (approximately $162,000) to the British Red Cross Libya and Region Appeal to help support those who had fled to neighbouring countries to escape the violence in Libya.
• Following the earthquake in Japan, we donated Yen 51 million (approximately $910,000) as part of an overall pledge of one hundred million Japanese yen (approximately $1.8 million) to Ashinaga Ikueikai (Ashinaga) to support their ongoing relief and rebuilding effort. In addition, employee donations from AstraZeneca in Japan totalling 25.5million Yen (approximately $300,000) were matched by the company.
• We also donated $25,000 to AMREF to support their local networks in North East Kenya, where the Horn of Africa drought was having a devastating impact.In November, working with Poh Teck Tung Foundation – a non-governmental organisation, AstraZeneca Thailand donated 200 survival kits to flood victims. Employees globally were encouraged to support the relief efforts through the provision of a global online facility enabling them to donate via International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent to Thai Red Cross. Donations were matched up to US$50,000 by AstraZeneca Thailand . Help is being given to clean up the Thammasat University Hospital in Pathum Thani (one of the central provinces of Thailand) now the floods are subsiding.