Roche employees take part in 11th Children’s Walk

MANILA, Philippines - For 11 years, Roche employees around the world have been showing solidarity with children in need by supporting day-care centers in Malawi, Africa and children’s charities in their own countries.

Their commitment is well worthwhile. This year, the event took place on June 16, uniting almost 20,000 employees at 109 sites behind one good cause.

“The International Day of the African Child is not just a chance to celebrate children,” says Severin Schwan, CEO of Roche. “It is also an opportunity to raise public awareness of children’s needs. By taking part in the Children’s Walk, Roche employees are expressing their solidarity with children who have not been fortunate in life and have to rely on the assistance of others. Because we know that their efforts deliver tangible aid, Roche doubles the amount of money they raise.”

Around 70,000 Roche walkers from more than 100 sites worldwide have taken part in the sponsored walk since its inception in 2003, and it has long been a permanent fixture in their diaries.

After every year’s walk, employees who have led the fundraising results at their site are also given the opportunity to travel to Malawi to see firsthand how the day-care centers Roche supports are helping children. Roche organizes the Children’s Walk and bears all the costs associated with it.

Roche works with the European Coalition of Positive People (ECPP) to support day-care centers in Malawi that look after more than 3,000 children who have been orphaned by AIDS.

Part of the money raised also supports the educational initiatives set up jointly by UNICEF Switzerland, and UNICEF Malawi to improve schools and education in Malawi, a country where orphans are often prevented by their poverty from attending school or learning a profession.

Roche and the ECPP are working in partnership to provide direct aid to orphans in Malawi. The partnership builds, equips, manages, and maintains orphan centers in rural southern Malawi, cares for orphans, and provides financial assistance to children who want to enter secondary education.

Part of the money raised also continues to support schools and education in Malawi through collaboration with UNICEF.

In the Philippines, Roche partners with the San Lazaro Hospital HIV/AIDS Center.

The hospital’s H4 BL Pavilion is the country’s premier institution on HIV/AIDS under the Department of Health, particularly serving indigent Filipino patients. With its holistic approach to HIV/AIDS including treatment, financial and moral support, research and advocacy, San Lazaro’s H4 BL Pavilion has become the refuge for treatment and place of hope for many Filipinos infected with HIV/AIDS.

The San Lazaro Hospital has been the local beneficiary of the Roche Children’s Walk since 2006. Roche’s support has funded the purchase of pediatric beds, diagnostic procedures, improvement of the children’s facilities, and activities of Filipino children infected and affected by HIV/AIDS.

Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. It is the world’s largest biotech company with differentiated medicine in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS.

Roche is also a world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management.