WILMINGTON, Del., Jan. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- AstraZeneca today was reaccredited by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard, which recognizes companies that take extensive actions to promote cancer prevention, early cancer detection and access to quality cancer care for all employees and their dependents. The recognition is one of three awards bestowed upon AstraZeneca this week - including FORTUNE Magazine’s “100 Best Places to Work For” list and the American Heart Association’s “Fit-Friendly Company” award.
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001, in response to the Former President Bush’s challenge to American CEOs to be “bold and venturesome” in the fight against cancer. AstraZeneca is now one of only 12 accredited U.S. organizations, and was among the first six companies to receive CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation in 2006. The company’s reaccreditation was based on its ongoing promotion of employee cancer- prevention initiatives.
“As a healthcare company that seeks to discover medicines that will improve the health of people and their families, we’re committed to providing our employees with the programs and resources they need to make healthy lifestyle choices,” said Tony Zook, President and CEO, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, U.S. “We encourage other companies to offer similar programs to their employees. Providing a healthy workplace environment does more than reduce healthcare costs and sick days, it can save lives.”
In fact, onsite breast cancer screenings at AstraZeneca over the past 15 years have resulted in the detection of more than 35 cancers in employees, most of them detected in early stages that allowed for successful treatment outcomes. Corporate wellness initiatives also make good business sense. According to the Centers for Disease Control, more than 75% of employers’ costs and productivity losses are related to employee lifestyle choices, and a $1 investment in wellness programs saves $3 in healthcare costs, according to the Wellness Council of America.
As part of its broader commitment to fostering a progressive workplace environment, AstraZeneca has implemented a number of programs designed to enable employees to maintain their commitments inside and outside of work - including flexible work arrangements, employee network groups and multiple healthy workplace options, including:
-- Tobacco-free U.S. campuses, tobacco cessation programs, and fully reimbursed nicotine replacement therapy. -- Free onsite screening programs for breast and prostate cancer, as well as blood pressure and cholesterol measurement. -- Confidential health risk assessment that helps employees develop action plans to meet their needs for a healthy lifestyle. Employees save $50 on their monthly benefits for participating, and in 2005, the participation rate for U.S.-based employees was 97%. -- Employee Network Groups based on ethnic, gender and work/life interests such as an Eldercare Employee Network, Adoptive Parents group and a group for Reservists and their families. -- Flexible Work Arrangements to support: Job-sharing and Part-Time work, Flextime, Teleworking, Flexible Fridays (Compressed Work Week). -- Wide variety of childcare and eldercare support programs, including 10 days per year of back-up care subsidized at 90% of the cost. -- Breakfast meetings with the CEO. Award-winning Workplace Environment
In addition to emphasizing wellness in the workplace, AstraZeneca recognizes that a supportive, flexible and inclusive workplace environment is key to engaging employees by helping them effectively manage their responsibilities inside and outside of the workplace. As such, the CEO Cancer Gold Standard is one of four recent honors AstraZeneca has received for its commitment to fostering a positive workplace environment. Others include:
-- The company’s naming this week as the first winner of the American Heart Association’s “Fit-Friendly Company” award, which recognizes companies that are taking a lead to support corporate wellness initiatives. -- AstraZeneca’s recent recognition as the only large pharmaceutical company named to FORTUNE magazine’s 2007 list of “100 Best Companies to Work For.” According to FORTUNE, the company " ... works hard to align staffers via town hall meetings, newsletters, road shows, and breakfasts with the U.S. CEO, making it feel like ‘a down-home family- run outfit.’” -- The company’s listing for the fifth year in a row in 2006 as one of Working Mother magazine’s “100 Best Companies for Working Mothers.” About AstraZeneca
AstraZeneca is a major international healthcare business engaged in the research, development, manufacture and marketing of prescription pharmaceuticals and the supply of healthcare services. It is one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies with healthcare sales of $23.95 billion and leading positions in sales of gastrointestinal, cardiovascular, neuroscience, respiratory, oncology and infection products. In the United States, AstraZeneca is a $10.77 billion healthcare business with more than 12,000 employees. AstraZeneca is listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (Global) as well as the FTSE4Good Index.
For more information about AstraZeneca, please visit: http://www.astrazeneca-us.com.
AstraZeneca
CONTACT: Abigail Baron, +1-302-885-3578, Abigail.Baron@AstraZeneca.com; orEmily Denney, +1-302-885-3451, Emily.Denney@AstraZeneca.com, both ofAstraZeneca
Web site: http://www.astrazeneca-us.com/
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