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Community Partnerships

As the nation's leading research-based healthcare provider, it is our mission to improve access to quality healthcare, build scientific knowledge in the community and encourage our brightest scientists to remain in Australia. Pfizer Australia has a long history as a significant contributor to our community - our support reaches out to all corners of the nation.

Our commitment to community, which is one of our core values, is fostered in partnerships with community and health consumer organisations, and we encourage employees to make a tangible contribution to the health and well being of Australians.

Building a healthier community:

The Collaboration for Health in Papua New Guinea

The Collaboration for Health in Papua New Guinea is a health initiative of a number of member companies of Medicines Australia. It is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of one of our closest neighbours, Papua New Guinea. Pfizer Australia is a member of this public-private partnership for health, which provides training of the HIV Healthcare teams across the country in order to build healthcare capacity and ultimately support Papua New Guineans living with HIV.

Our Partnership with Health Consumer Organisations

Pfizer Australia is committed to long-term, mutually beneficial relationships with a range of Health Consumer Organisations (also known as patient groups), in a transparent manner while respecting their integrity and independence.

Health Consumer Organisations are not-for-profit organisations that represent the interests and views of consumers of health care. They provide support services and information to patients, families and carers. They also advocate for improved standards of care and enhanced access to treatment. They may range from small volunteer groups to large organisations, and generally promote views that are independent of government, pharmaceutical industry and professional health service providers.

We share many common interests and goals with Health Consumer Organisations including: generating awareness of health conditions and related issues, the development of patient education resources, early diagnosis, timely access to new medicines and treatments and a greater understanding of the needs of health consumers. A number of our partnerships with Health Consumer Organisations focus on the Quality Use of Medicines (QUM). Quality Use of Medicines means improving health outcomes for Australians by:

  1. selecting management options wisely,
  2. choosing suitable medicines if a medicine is considered necessary and
  3. using medicines safely and effectively.

QUM is one of the four central objectives of Australia's National Medicines Policy. The overall aim of the National Medicines Policy is to meet medication and related service needs, so that both optimal health outcomes and economic objectives are achieved. The National Medicines Policy can be found at www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/Content/National+Medicines+Policy.

Our relationships with Health Consumer Organisations are based on the principles presented in the Working Together Guide: A Guide to relationships between Health Consumer Organisations and Pharmaceutical Companies. The Guide was jointly developed by the Consumers' Health Forum of Australia - the national peak organisation for consumers, and Medicines Australia - the national association representing the prescription medicines industry. Respect for independence, trust, fairness, transparency and accountability are the core values of our relationships with Health Consumer Organisations. The Guide can be downloaded from the Medicines Australia and the Consumers' Health Forum of Australia websites - www.medicinesaustralia.com.au and www.chf.org.au/publications

In 2007 Pfizer Australia supported a number of Health Consumer Organisations including: