National Prevention Campaign

Clean teeth and healthy food

31. 5. 2006

Ljubljana, May 31, 2006 – The 23rd annual Slovene Clean Teeth and Healthy Food campaign is coming to a successful close. It is organized and run by the Dental Section of the Slovenian Medical Association in cooperation with general sponsor Lek, a Sandoz company, and now with Lek Kozmetika. Once again this year, at the end of the school year the best classes among 657 elementary schools and 43 groups from kindergartens – of which 31 classes and groups are from schools and institutions for children with special needs – will be rewarded for their constant care for their clean and healthy teeth. At entertaining regional awards ceremonies, the children who have been taking care of their oral hygiene all year and who demonstrated this at regular dental check-ups receive symbolic awards. The regional winners will receive their awards at the final awards ceremony, which will be held on June 1, 2006 in Tivoli Hall.

Because of parents’ increasing levels of employment, dental workers and teachers are taking on a great deal of responsibility for oral hygiene. Through this campaign and with regular check-ups, they hope to encourage children to brush their teeth regularly and teach them the importance of oral hygiene.

Announcing the end of this year’s preventive campaign, creative director of the Clean Teeth and Healthy Food campaign Tatjana Leskošek Denišlič said that this year they are especially proud of the 31 classes and groups from schools and institutions for children with special needs that participated in the campaign. One of these groups even became a regional winner.

The oral hygiene of the children in the participating classes and groups is checked throughout the year. The check-ups are random and unannounced. The children collect bonus points for their class or group. The results are then entered in special charts, which are hung in visible locations in the schools. Parents are also invited to participate in the campaign, helping children up to about nine years old brush their teeth. At the end of the year the children receive awards at regional events, and the winners receive theirs at the final awards ceremony in Tivoli Hall in Ljubljana. At the awards ceremony they are entertained by acrobats, musicians, magicians and other performers.

Cvetana Rijavec, Head of Lek Cosmetics, the general sponsor and a major Slovene supplier of oral hygiene products, stated that successful sponsorship for over 20 years is possible in part due to well-designed products, which are the result of local know-how. Lek Cosmetics develops and tests oral hygiene products in cooperation with the Dental Section of the Slovenian Medical Association, and this cooperation is further increased through campaigns like Clean Teeth and Healthy Food.

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Lek, član skupine Sandoz, je eden od stebrov vodilne globalne generične družbe Sandoz. Deluje kot globalni razvojni center za izdelke in tehnologije, kot globalni proizvodni center za učinkovine in zdravila, kot kompetenčni center za razvoj vertikalno integriranih izdelkov, kot kompetenčni center Sandoza na področju razvoja in proizvodnje biofarmacevtskih izdelkov in kot center oskrbe za trge SVE, JVE in SND, prodaje Slovenije ter prodajnih storitev za globalne Sandozove trge. Lek podpira delovanje Sandoza na njegovi poti postati prva generična farmacevtska družba na svetu. Lekovo srednje- in dolgoročno poslovanje sledi viziji in strategiji Sandoza postati vodilni svetovni generični proizvajalec. Lek d.d. zaposluje približno 2.850 ljudi in je v letu 2005 dosegel skupno prodajo v višini 656,5 milijonov USD. Podrobnejše informacije so na voljo na http://www.lek.si

Sandoz, divizija skupine Novartis, je vodilna družba na svetu na področju generičnih zdravil, ki ponuja široko paleto visoko kakovostnih, cenovno dostopnih zdravil, ki niso več zaščitena s patenti. Sandoz ima v svojem portfelju več kot 600 učinkovin v več kot 5000 oblikah po vsem svetu. Med njegove ključne skupine zdravil sodijo antibiotiki, zdravila za bolezni in motnje osrednjega živčevja ter zdravila za prebavila, srce in ožilje in različne hormonske terapije. Sandoz razvija, izdeluje in trži ta zdravila, pa tudi posamezne farmacevtske in biotehnološke učinkovine in antiinfektive. Poleg močne organske rasti v zadnjih letih pa je Sandoz izvršil tudi vrsto združitev, vključno z družbami Lek (Slovenija), Sabex (Kanada), Hexal (Nemčija) in EonLabs (ZDA), in zdaj prodaja svoja zdravila v več kot 110 državah. V letu 2005 je imel Sandoz okoli 20.000 zaposlenih po vsem svetu in je dosegel prodajo v višini 4,7 milijarde ameriških dolarjev.

Novartis AG (NYSE: NVS) je vodilna družba na svetu, ki izdeluje zdravila za varovanje zdravja, zdravljenje bolezni in izboljšanje počutja. Naš cilj je iznajti, razviti in uspešno prodajati inovativna zdravila za zdravljenje bolnikov, lajšanje njihovega trpljenja in povečanje kakovosti njihovega življenja. Novartis je edina družba, ki ima vodilni položaj tako na področju patentiranih zdravil kot generikov. Ves čas krepimo svoj portfelj zdravil, ki temelji na strateških osnovah rasti na področju inovativnih zdravil, visoko kakovost in cenovno ugodnejše generike ter vodilne blagovne znamke zdravil brez recepta, ki se uporabljajo za samozdravljenje. V letu 2005 so družbe v okviru te skupine dosegle neto prodajo v višini 32,2 milijarde USD in neto dobiček v višini 6,1 milijarde USD. Približno 4,8 milijard USD je bilo vloženih v raziskave in razvoj. Skupina Novartis ima sedež v Baslu v Švici, v njenih članicah, ki poslujejo v več kot 140 državah po vsem svetu, pa je zaposlenih približno 91.000 ljudi. Za dodatne informacije obiščite našo spletno stran: http://www.novartis.com.

Za dodatne informacije se, prosim, obrnite na:

Renato Lovrak
Lek Kozmetika, d.o.o.
telefon: 01/580 27 05
renata.lovrak@sandoz.com

Špelo Jurak
Korporativno komuniciranje
Lek farmacevtska družba d.d.
Telefon: 01/580 22 43
Telefaks: 01/580 24 32
komuniciranje.lek@sandoz.com

ali na
Prim. mag. Tatjano Leskošek Denišlič, dr. stom.
Stomatološka sekcija Slovenskega zdravniškega društva
telefon: 031/484 294