Humanitarian Aid

When disaster strikes, we are ready to contribute our expertise and, where appropriate, our products, services and logistics capabilities to assist the emergency relief organisations on the scene. Decisions about whether or not to support relief efforts are made primarily by the local Roche company, in consultation with the Corporate Issue Taskforce and/or Corporate Donations and Sponsorship. Roche policies specifically preclude drug donations except in disaster relief situations or other exceptional circumstances.

We believe that the most effective form of humanitarian aid involves developing and maintaining sustainable healthcare for people in distress in the world’s poorest countries. Projects need to take into account local needs and infrastructure capacity and be aimed at enabling local communities to develop long-term strategies for the prevention of disease. The focus shouldn’t be on medical treatment only (end-of-pipe solutions). We try to work with local authorities and partners who share our commitment to long-term solutions and who are prepared to make adequate contributions of their own e.g. by providing essential infrastructure or education.

Following the Asian tsunami in 2004, Roche launched a response within a matter of hours. The Corporate Issue Taskforce assessed the situation together with regional management teams, who in turn contacted local authorities and relief and aid organisations. Corporate Donations and Sponsorship then immediately released all locally available stocks of antibiotics in affected countries for use in relief operations and also supplied antibiotics to selected international relief agencies who co-ordinated their delivery to the people who needed them. In all, Roche supplied enough antibiotics to treat about 80,000 patients. In addition, Roche employees around the world donated money to help rebuild the communities devastated by the tsunami.

The Roche Employee Action and Charity Trust, known as Re&Act, is a legally independent charity which augments existing company structures and processes for corporate social responsibility. It was created in response to strong employee interest for the means to collectively support pressing humanitarian needs. Re&act is designed to harness the resources and know-how of the corporation while garnering the commitment and generosity of Roche individuals and affiliates across the organization.

The goal of Re&Act is to provide sustainable support for selected projects and charitable organizations around the world especially inLeast Developed Countries.

• Managing donations Re&Act manages and monitors donated funds to ensure they are properly used (e.g. money collected through the Roche Children's Walk)
• Rebuilding funding Re&Act maintains relationships with key charitable organizations to identify opportunities for support of long-term projects.
• Responding to global emergencies Re&Act works to channel employee funds to support humanitarian needs and community restoration in the event of natural disasters or other global emergencies. Re&Act  pools individual interests and contributions  and monitors needs and changes over the longer term.

Current projects supported by Re&Act include the Children's Walk, Phelophepa Health Care Train and the International Committee of the Red Cross Clean Water Project.  Re&Act is governed by an independent board made up of members from the global Roche organization.