Protecting Human Safety and Health
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Protecting Human Safety and Health
Continuing to promote personal and community health
We are committed to helping to improve the standard of health of our employees, their families and local communities. That’s why we actively participate in large-scale drives and programs to promote personal and community health.
Educating and Raising Awareness
Our objective is to promote healthy lifestyles.Our main awareness initiatives are directed at:
- Infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and malaria and emerging viral diseases such as avian flu and influenza A.
- Substance abuse (tobacco, alcohol).
- Preventing obesity and cardiovascular disease.
In some cases, we can make support measures available, for instance to help people quit smoking.
Tackling Malaria
Malaria is still a major global health scourge. One-third of the world's population is at risk from the disease. In 2008, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 247 million cases of malaria worldwide. The disease claims nearly 1 million lives every year, mainly children. Some 80% of malaria cases are reported in sub-Saharan Africa, where we have a strong presence.
Our Marketing subsidiaries in Africa have been actively involved in the fight against malaria since 2008. In 2010, to mark World Malaria Day, we distributed 7,000 prevention guides, 20,000 educational games and 700,000 informational leaflets, as well as mosquito nets treated with repellent. Awareness campaigns were also conducted in schools, hospitals and service stations.
In addition, several Exploration & Production subsidiaries on other continents have tailored the methods to each local situation.
Supporting advances in medical research
Unfortunately, prevention alone cannot eradicate disease. That’s why we are supporting medical research on infectious diseases. To ensure our actions are appropriate for the local context, we team up with international or regional partners, such as NGOs. Our initiatives rely as much as possible on host country health care systems and governments.
The Total Foundation Bolsters Its Support for the Pasteur Institute
In 2010, the Total Foundation and the Pasteur Institute renewed the corporate funding agreement originally signed in 2005. With a budget of €10 million over five years, the partnership has gained new momentum. Three focuses have been identified:
- Creation of the Françoise Barré-Sinoussi Chair. A highly respected sponsor, researcher Françoise Barré-Sinoussi — winner of the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2008 — has been the Total Foundation’s scientific advisor at the Pasteur Institute since 2005. The chair is dedicated to research on mechanisms to protect against HIV/AIDS and on training for medical professionals and researchers. From 2012, the chair will be located at the planned Center for Integrative Biology of Emerging Diseases on the Pasteur Institute campus in Paris.
- Supporting infectious disease research programs, which encompasses cross-functional programs in which teams from the Pasteur Institute and young researchers cooperate.
- The Total Foundation and the Pasteur Institute will deploy public health initiatives, chiefly in the non-OECD countries in which Total operates. The initiatives will focus in particular on training health care professionals, educators and teachers, especially in how to combat sexually transmitted infections and in mother and baby health.
Health Care for Our Employees Worldwide
Our International Medical Department (DMI) was created to guarantee that all of our employees will have the benefit of prompt, quality medical attention, regardless of where they are in the world.
To this end, it is tasked with establishing and/or running our medical services and auditing the hospital infrastructure nearest to our operating locations. The DMI is also in charge of arranging emergency evacuations when necessary.
