THE NAACP FORMALIZES PARTNERSHIP
WITH PFIZER TO ADVANCE
HEALTH OF AFRICAN AMERICANS
Partnership Addresses Broad Range of Health Issues

(AANewswire)Today, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) announced that its three-year, $1 million partnership with Pfizer Inc is underway. The partnership formalizes along standing relationship and focuses on developing health information and advocacy programs that will help lead to better health for millions of African Americans.

The NAACP and its Health Advocacy Division have long noted that quality health care is a human right of all Americans and that the health care gap impinges on the equality of African Americans.

"The NAACP's mission is to eradicate barriers to freedom and equality. Despite improvements in health and healthcare across the board, African Americans, Latinos and Native Americans continue to suffer in many disease areas. This state of affairs is unacceptable," said Kweisi Mfume, NAACP President and CEO. "Improving the health of all Americans is one of the greatest challenges facing America as we seek to improve the lives of all of our citizens. We are pleased to partner with Pfizer, a leading health care company, to address these complex issues. Together, our organizations are uniquely positioned to translate our knowledge about the problem into solutions for the African American community."

According to a 2002 Institute of Medicine report, African Americans have the highest mortality rates of any U.S. racial and ethnic group, 1.6 times higher than that of whites. In a number of areas - from specific diseases such as diabetes, cancer, and HIV/AIDS, to broader factors such as environmental toxicity and lack of health insurance - African Americans across the United States suffer from hampered access to a full range of quality healthcare services.

Pfizer and The NAACP have worked together over the years to raise health awareness and activate NAACP members through health education and health screening programs, and initiatives to provide senior citizens with access to health care and prescription medicines. The NAACP and Pfizer believe good healthcare is helped by access to health information and that health care must be patient-centered and focused on prevention.

"Quality, affordable healthcare is a right and not a privilege. If you don't have good health you can't do all the other things in life that matter," said Pat Kelly, Pfizer's President of U.S. Pharmaceuticals. "The NAACP has distinguished itself as a champion of educational opportunity, economic development and civil rights. Pfizer's specialty is health and we're excited to partner with The NAACP to help improve the health and quality of life for all."

With the partnership underway, Pfizer and the NAACP are redoubling their health information and activation efforts. This past July, The NAACP issued a Call to Action on Health, which calls on national, state, and local health committees to develop and implement a Five-Year Healthcare Equity Partnership Plan for reducing the racial disparities in healthcare by at least 25percent over the next five years. The NAACP produced the Call with help from Pfizer.

"This is an ambitious goal, one that will require the participation and commitment of all stakeholders in our healthcare systems: patients and their families, healthcare professionals and providers, advocacy and membership organizations, private healthcare and medical companies, and government policymakers," said President Mfume.

The NAACP and Pfizer have also rolled out an initiative to promote Women Like You, a video/DVD and discussion guide about women and HIV/AIDS that was jointly developed by The NAACP, Pfizer and the Los Angeles HIV Prevention Trials Unit. Pfizer medical and advocacy staffs are working with NAACP branches to train local leaders in the use of the program as an education and discussion tool. Since the partnership launched in February, the organizations have produced Women Like You presentations in seven cities nationwide.

"African American women are among the greatest risk populations for HIV/AIDS," said NAACP Health Committee Chairwoman Rupert Richardson. "The Women Like You program shows what a meaningful, sustained partnership can do to engage people at risk in early testing and prevention through compelling education and dialogue."

The two organizations also will work together to expand access to healthcare, including prescription medicines, to the 45 million people across the country currently not covered by health insurance. This includes informing NAACP members about Helpful AnswersTM(www.helpfulanswers.com), a program that provides the uninsured with access to Pfizer medicines at no cost or at significant savings. Pfizer will also continue to serve as the exclusive sponsor of the Health Fair at The NAACP's national convention, which provides screenings and presents health and healthcare information to more than 12,000 attendees annually. Additionally, Pfizer will work with The NAACP to distribute health information to NAACP members throughout the length of the partnership.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is the nation's oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the
premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitor equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

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