Parma, May 3 2021 – On May 1 Maria Paola Chiesi was appointed President of the Chiesi Foundation, a non-profit organisation established in 2005 as an expression of the corporate social responsibility of the Chiesi Group, dedicated to research and international cooperation projects in the field of global health. The Foundation’s main objective is to promote access to neonatal and respiratory quality care in countries with low to medium levels of resources.
Maria Paola Chiesi, former Coordinator of the Foundation since 2010, succeeds to Dr Paolo Chiesi, Vice President of the Chiesi Group and President of the Foundation since its creation.
“I would like to thank the Chiesi Foundation Board of Directors for this appointment, which I am proud to accept with humility and gratitude, and which I will hold with the same dedication that has characterised the work of Dr Paolo Chiesi over the past few years. I care very much about the Foundation, its commitment beyond company boundaries,” said Maria Paola Chiesi, Shared Value & Sustainability Head of the Chiesi Group and elect President of the Chiesi Foundation. “I immediately believed in the value of strategic philanthropy, in combining economic resources and know-how in order to have a wider social impact as well as an active role in helping to solve the complexities that characterize our society. With this in mind, I travelled in 2010 to Burkina Faso, in sub-Saharan Africa, to visit the neonatal clinic of the San Camillo Hospital in Ouagadougou. From that visit, and from a deeper reflection on the inequalities of access to quality care, the NEST (Neonatal Essential Survival Technologies) project came about”.
Maria Paola Chiesi can count on the support of Massimo Salvadori who joined the Chiesi Foundation as Coordinator last February, with the task of establishing and increasing partnerships with the main stakeholders (local partners, NGOs, government agencies and scientific organisations) and managing projects. Massimo, after graduating in Sociology from the University of Trento, followed by a post-graduate master’s in management of social enterprises, began his professional career in the field of international cooperation at the Médecins du Monde (MdM) in the management of global health projects, working in Sierra Leone, Algeria, Mali and Senegal. In his latest experience, he served at COOPI - International Cooperation as Area Programme Manager for Western Africa.
The Foundation is active in the sector of international health cooperation, through the transfer of scientific knowledge and means, as well as the support to projects that promote the right to health of the populations most in need, with particular attention to the improvement of neonatal and respiratory health. The projects of the Foundation consist of the NEST (Neonatal Essential Survival Technology) model, which aims to reduce neonatal mortality rates by improving the quality of care in those places where access to quality care is not yet guaranteed, and the GASP project (Global Access to Spirometry Project) which focuses on the development of specific clinical skills for the diagnosis and management of chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) through the use of spirometry.
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Chiesi Foundation
Chiesi Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded in 2005 as an expression of the social responsibility of Chiesi Farmaceutici. Ethics and knowledge intertwine in the Foundation. The mission of the Chiesi Foundation is to enhance the wealth of knowledge inherited from the founding company, in order to improve health and alleviate the suffering of patients with respiratory and neonatal diseases. The main tools through which the Foundation strives to achieve its mission are science and solidarity. For this reason, the Chiesi Foundation has activated two specific programmes: Scientific research and international cooperation.
International cooperation, in order to contribute to reducing inequalities in the world and promote the full implementation of the right to health for populations in low- and medium-income countries, through the training and transfer of medical-scientific knowledge and projects aimed at sustainable development and progressive autonomy. In both areas, the Chiesi Foundation focuses its activities in the field of neonatology and pulmonology.
Since 2005, the Foundation has been listed in the register of private legal entities at the Parma Prefecture and since 2013 in the single registry of NGOs at the revenue agency - regional directorate of Emilia-Romagna.
For more information: www.chiesifoundation.org
About Chiesi Group
Based in Parma, Italy, Chiesi is an international research-focused pharmaceuticals and healthcare group with over 85 years’ experience, operating in 30 countries with more than 6,000 employees (Chiesi Group). To achieve its mission of improving people’s quality of life by acting responsibly towards society and the environment, the Group research, develops and markets innovative drugs in its three therapeutic areas: AIR (products and services that promote respiration, from new-born to adult populations), RARE (treatment for patients with rare and ultra-rare diseases) and CARE (products and services that support special care and consumer-facing self-care). The Group’s Research and Development centre is based in Parma and works alongside 6 other important research and development centres in France, the U.S., Canada, China, the UK, and Sweden to promote its pre-clinical, clinical, and regulatory programmes. Chiesi, since 2019, is the world’s largest B Corp certified pharmaceutical group. Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. has changed in 2018 its legal status to a Benefit Corporation, by incorporating a double purpose for the creation of shared value, and to generate value for its business, for society and the environment. The global B Corp movement promotes business as a force for good. Moreover, as a Benefit Corporation, Chiesi Farmaceutici S.p.A. is required by law to include objectives of common benefit in its bylaws and to report annually in a transparent way. The Group is committed to becoming carbon neutral by the end of 2035.
For further information: www.chiesi.sk
Media contact:
Chiesi Group - Alessio Pappagallo - Global Communication Manager - Tel: +39 339 5897483; Email: a.pappagallo@chiesi.com
Chiesi Slovakia - Katarina Prochotska - Site Manager Chiesi SK - Tel: +421 2 593 000 68; Email: k.prochotska@chiesi.com
