Basel, 22 December 2004 - The �Roche AIDS Walk� mobilised 8000 employees around 60 sites on World AIDS day. Together, they walked or ran once around the world and thanks to their initiative, more than half a million Swiss Francs was raised. Roche doubled this amount, and 750 000 Swiss Francs will be donated to benefit orphans affected by HIV/AIDS in Malawi, Africa. Malawi is a stable and peaceful country but also one of the poorest in Africa, with up to half a million children who have lost one or both parents as a result of HIV/AIDS. The rest, 400 000 Swiss Francs, will go to local HIV/AIDS organizations in the participating countries.

Pierre Jaccoud, Chair of Roche�s Corporate Sustainability Committee, said: �Roche concentrates its humanitarian aid efforts on developing and maintaining sustainable projects for people in the poorest countries of the world. We are happy to match the sum raised by the sponsors of the �Roche AIDS Walk� and to work in partnership with ECPP; together, we will ensure that our help will make a visible, long term and sustainable difference in the lives of the orphaned children".

Support for HIV/AIDS projects in Malawi and beyond
Supervised by the �European Coalition of Positive People�, ECPP, the money will be used to build orphan centres and to purchase essential items, such as food, cooking utensils and clothes for the orphans in Malawi.
In addition to the money that will be used to help orphans in Malawi, 400 000 Swiss Francs raised at the Global Employee AIDS Walk will be donated to a local HIV/AIDS organization in many participating Roche affiliates and sites. As a result, children globally impacted by HIV/AIDS will benefit.


Partnership between Roche and ECPP
Roche and ECPP have agreed to work in partnership to directly benefit orphaned children in Malawi and neighbouring Mozambique. The partnership is based on principles of transparency and trust to construct, equip and monitor orphan centres in these two regions. Roche commits to organise and bear all costs associated with hosting the Roche Employee AIDS Walk fundraising event and will assist ECPP with communications materials on the activities. Roche will also cover the administration cost of preparing the financial summary it requests from ECPP. In turn, ECPP will ensure that the orphans are the beneficiaries of the Roche Employee AIDS Walk funds. ECPP will also directly supervise the orphan centres in Malawi and Mozambique to ensure the resources reach and remain with the orphans. In addition, a quarterly update on progress and summary of how Roche Employee AIDS Walk funds have been utilised and expenditure planned will be created by ECPP. Any proposed changes to the scope of the project will be discussed between Roche and ECPP.

About Roche
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is one of the world�s leading research-intensive healthcare groups. Its core businesses are pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. As a supplier of innovative products and services for the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease, the Group contributes on a broad range of fronts to improving people�s health and quality of life. Roche is a world leader in Diagnostics, the leading supplier of medicines for cancer and transplantation and a market leader in virology. In 2003, the Pharmaceuticals Division generated 19.8 billion Swiss francs in prescription drug sales, while the Diagnostics Division posted sales of 7.4 billion Swiss francs. Roche employs roughly 65,000 people in 150 countries and has R&D agreements and strategic alliances with numerous partners, including majority ownership interests in Genentech and Chugai.


Further information:
Roche AIDS Walk and Malawi: www.roche.com/sus_soc_coop_vol.htm
Roche Pharmaceuticals in HIV: www.roche-hiv.com
Roche Diagnostics in HIV: www.roche-diagnostics.com/servicebox/document_center/index.php
Access to Healthcare: www.roche.com/home/sustain/sus_med.htm
About ECPP: www.ecpp.co.uk