Bangalore September 19th, 2007

More than 1,100 schoolchildren from Vidya Niketan, Bellary Road, Hebbal, who use school buses daily, can now alight from and board them in complete safety - thanks to AstraZeneca.

The pharmaceutical company has offered the school the use of its parking lot next to the Process Research & Development Centre (PR&D) for its ten buses that drop and pick up children from home to school and vice-versa.

Instead of alighting from or boarding the buses on the road outside the school, with all the attendant risks from other vehicles, children walk in single file and in an orderly manner to the parking lot.

The teachers and administrative staff of the school, along with AstraZeneca security staff, supervise the children’s safety.

The teacher and parents of Vidya Niketan School are very grateful to AstraZeneca for offering them the use of its parking lot for the safety of the schoolchildren.

“We see this as part of our corporate social responsibility – reaching out to those in our neighbourhood,” said Mr. Sudhir Nambiar, head of PR&D. “It is an integral part of all that the company does in the areas where it operates, supporting local communities.”

AstraZeneca’s key initiatives in Bangalore include the donation and maintenance of a fully-equipped ambulance to Comprehensive Trauma Consortium’s (CTC) “Operation Sanjeevani”, a free emergency service for road accidents victims and medical emergencies. It also offers ongoing support in health and education for a needy government school in Katigenahalli village, Yelahanka, near the Bangalore manufacturing unit.

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For Media enquiries contact:

R&PM:Edelman, Bangalore
Nidhi Krishnan
Nidhi.Krishnan@edelman.com
Mob:+91 98864 40241