EDELMAN JOINS ELITE GROUP OF HEALTH-CONSCIOUS COMPANIES
PR Firm Recognized for Workplace Efforts to Prevent Cancer and Improve Treatment Options
May 14, 2007, New York -- In recognition of its effort to improve the health of employees and reduce their risks of cancer, Edelman, the world’s largest independent public relations firm, today received the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ accreditation from the CEO Roundtable on Cancer. The CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ is awarded only after a company meets or exceeds the rigorous requirements set out by the CEO Roundtable on Cancer.
To earn a Gold Standard accreditation, a company must establish programs to (1) reduce cancer risk, through discouraging tobacco use, encouraging physical activity and teaching diet and nutrition; (2) detect cancer at its earliest stages; and (3) provide access to quality care and clinical trials.
“Businesses have an obligation and self-interest in promoting a healthy lifestyle to their employees,” said Richard Edelman, President and CEO of Edelman. “At Edelman, we have instituted a tobacco-free workplace policy as well as smoking cessation initiatives and support. To provide additional incentive, we are also offering $500 to any employee who quits within the next few months if they’re smoke-free six months later.”
Statistics show that those efforts have a tangible impact on the cost of treating cancer. In 2005, cancer-related costs totaled nearly $210 billion, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. The American Cancer Society estimates that at least half of all cancer deaths could be avoided. Programs such as those established under the guidance of the CEO Roundtable help reduce cancer mortality. Johnson & Johnson saw its percentage of smokers drop from 12 percent to 5 percent in a six-year period, for instance, while a breast cancer-screening program at AstraZeneca found 30 malignancies in women, most of which were fortunately in the early stages.
“We congratulate Edelman for meeting the rigorous requirements of the Gold Standard and we are especially pleased that the number of companies earning Gold Standard accreditation has doubled within the past year,” said William C. Weldon, chairman and chief executive officer of Johnson & Johnson and chairman of the CEO Roundtable on Cancer, an organization of CEOs from diverse industries who have pledged to fight cancer in workplaces across the United States. “Adopting the Gold Standard is a tribute to the leadership of the CEOs of these organizations, and to the high value they place on their employees,” added Weldon.
To read more about Edelman’s commitment to workplace efforts to prevent cancer, please visit Richard Edelman’s blog.
Joining Edelman as companies that have received the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ accreditation from the CEO Roundtable on Cancer are: The American Cancer Society, The American Legacy Foundation, AstraZeneca, Enzon Pharmaceuticals, GlaxoSmithKline, Jenner & Block, Johnson & Johnson, MD Anderson Cancer Center, Novartis, OSI Pharmaceuticals, Quintiles Transnational, SAS Institute.
About Edelman
Edelman is the world’s largest independent public relations firm, with 2,700 employees in 48 offices worldwide. The firm was named PRWeek’s Large Agency of the Year for 2006. Advertising Age named Edelman as one of ten marketing firms to watch in 2007 in its Best Agencies issue. Edelman was also named 2006 Large Agency of the Year and 2005 International Agency of the Year by The Holmes Group. A&R Edelman was formed following the acquisition of A&R Partners in May 2006.
About the CEO Roundtable on Cancer
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer was founded in 2001, when former President George H.W. Bush challenged a group of executives, led by Robert A. Ingram, then the CEO of Glaxo Wellcome, now GlaxoSmithKline, to "do something bold and venturesome about cancer within your own corporate families." The CEOs responded with the CEO Cancer Gold Standard, and have since collaborated with the American Cancer Society to encourage its widespread adoption in workplaces across the country. For more information on the CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ and the accreditation process, please call 866-526-7830, a dedicated toll-free number staffed by the American Cancer Society, or visit www.CancerGoldStandard.org.
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Latraviette Smith 212-704-4530 latraviette.smith@edelman.com |
John Dornan,
Executive Director
The CEO Roundtable on Cancer 919-531-0966 john.dornan@ceoroundtableoncancer.org |