Sandoz announces a long-term commitment to help prevent the deaths of millions of children worldwide by supplying a key antibiotic formulation, as part of the United Nation's new Every Newborn Action Plan.

The commitment involves providing long-term global supplies of amoxicillin 250 mg dispersible tablets (DT) to developing countries via the UN Commission for Lifesaving Commodities.

Sandoz announced the commitment on the same day that the UN launched the Every Newborn Action Plan in Johannesburg, South Africa the world's first comprehensive plan to eliminate preventable deaths of newborn and stillborn babies. More than five million children under five are estimated to die worldwide every year, mainly in Africa and Asia, and nearly a quarter of those deaths are due to pneumonia alone, making it the single largest killer in that age range.

"Sandoz is proud to be jointly leading the response to the growing global need for this new formulation of a critical anti-infective", said Nick Haggar, Head of Western Europe, Middle East and Africa for Sandoz. "We are committed to working in partnership with all concerned to help prevent the needless deaths of hundreds of thousands of children every year. In our first year of supply, we hope to reach at least 500,000 children worldwide."

Amoxicillin is a penicillin-class, broad-spectrum antibiotic, commonly prescribed to children for treatment of pneumonia and other illnesses including bacterial infections of the ears, sinuses, throat, urinary tract, skin, abdomen and blood; it is also often used as part of the treatment regime for Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).  In 2011, the World Health Organisation (WHO) updated its recommendations for home treatment of pneumonia, establishing dispersible amoxicillin as the newly-recommended first line treatment for pneumonia in children under five.

This commitment continues a long history of Novartis supporting child health. As part of our Malaria Initiative, Novartis and partners developed the first artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) specifically designed for children. Since 2009, more than 200 million pediatric antimalarial treatments have been delivered without profit to 40 countries. The Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development supports the WHO and Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute in developing e-learning tools to scale-up maternal and child health training for health workers. Novartis Social Ventures, business models that bring access to healthcare, medicine and health education to families in rural areas of Asia and Africa, focus on maternal and child health.