Medicines made more useful through partnerships

It’s our belief that the ultimate goal of health care is to enable people to live longer, healthier lives. But we can’t do it alone. It takes more than medicine to effect change. That’s why we partner with communities to help patients prevent disease, avoid complications, and take their medicines consistently and properly. Here are just some of the things we are doing:

• Cancer
  The Visions of Hope traveling exhibit, already in its third year, is a patient-focused program that helps educate people around the country about breast cancer. The exhibit seeks to foster awareness in all those who pass through it, and features the history of breast cancer, microscopic images of cancerous and healthy breast cells, a prosthetic breast for detecting lumps, mammogram examples, treatment choices, and patient and health care professional messages of hope. This program has made great strides in reaching out to local communities to help educate patients, caregivers, and local community members about breast cancer. For more information, please visit www.visions-of-hope.com.

  AstraZeneca is the exclusive sponsor of the Phone Buddy Program, run by the Lung Cancer Alliance. The program puts lung cancer patients and their families in touch with others affected by lung cancer. The role of a Phone Buddy is to lend a supportive ear and share information and resources. For many callers, being able to talk with someone who has "been there" can really make a difference. For more information, please visit www.alcase.org.

  AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation is the founder of National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM), which has raised awareness of the disease for more than 20 years. The primary goal of NBCAM is to educate women about breast cancer by stressing the importance of detecting the disease in its earliest stages through screening mammography. The program works through a nation-wide education campaign aimed at the general public, state and federal governments, health care professionals, employers, ethnic groups, and women of all ages. Fifteen not-for-profit organizations and government agencies comprise the NBCAM board of sponsors. For more information, please visit www.nbcam.org.

• Asthma
  In 1997, AstraZeneca joined with the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) to develop the Nationwide Asthma Screening Program. Today it is the largest program of its kind. The program provides free asthma screenings to adults and children, and encourages those who might have asthma to get evaluated by asthma specialists in their community. Each year, allergists and specialists kick off the program in May—National Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month—in cities across the country.