Religious Shareholders Mount Big Push to Spur
Stronger Drug Company Response to HIV/AIDS Crisis

275-Group Coalition Pushes 4 Major Pharmas For Action on Global Pandemic;
Tragic Fact: Only 4% of Those Living With HIV/AIDS Have Access to Medicine Today.

Listen to the streaming audio recording of the news event here (available after 4:00pm EST on March 24)

NEW YORK, N.Y.///March 24, 2004///Religious and other concerned shareholders today announced a major coordinated campaign through the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility (ICCR) to pressure four major pharmaceutical companies - Abbott Laboratories (NYSE:ABT), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Bristol-Myers Squibb (NYSE: BMY) and Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) - to take new steps on the HIV/AIDS crisis, including the pandemic in Africa.

Even though HIV medicines can turn AIDS from a death sentence into a chronic disease, only 4 percent of the estimated 40 million world citizens suffering from HIV/AIDS have access to the life-saving medicines. Of that total, 95 percent of the victims live in the developing world where major pharmaceutical companies have been faulted for not doing enough to make HIV/AIDS medications more readily available to the millions who need them.

The ICCR-backed resolutions call on each of the four leading pharmaceutical companies to "review the economic effects of the HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria pandemics on the company's business strategy, and its initiatives to date, and report to shareholders within six months following the 2004 annual meeting."

Jim Gunning, Treasurer of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee, and the primary filer with Merck, said: "Faith-based institutional investors have both a compassionate concern for the victims of HIV/AIDS and concerns as owners about whether or not the long-term interests of shareholders are being protected adequately. The investor-owners of these companies need to feel confident that boards of directors have fully considered the risks and opportunities they face in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in emerging markets, and have implemented effective policies for dealing with the challenges."

Sister Doris Gormley, representing several provinces of the Society of Jesus, the primary filers with Abbott Laboratories and Bristol-Myers Squibb, said: "We're seeking to have a major impact with these companies and change the way they do business in these emerging countries. Not only could the HIV/AIDS pandemic damage their business models, but there also is the very real danger that a failure to act will cost countless lives in a very literal sense. These corporations need to reassure shareholders that their current way of operating in Africa and other developing areas around the world is both wise and long-sighted."

ICCR members have engaged pharmaceutical companies on HIV/AIDS issues for three years. ICCR-sponsored resolutions on HIV/AIDS are also pending at major employers Caterpillar, Inc. (NYSE: CAT), ChevronTexaco Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Coca-Cola Co. (NYSE: KO), and PepsiCo Inc. (NYSE: PEP). In an unusual move, the Coca-Cola board of directors is supporting the resolution on HIV/AIDS facing that company.

According to UNAIDS, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is "creating or aggravating poverty among millions of people, eroding human capital, weakening government institutions and threatening business activities and investment." The World Bank reports that in southern Africa and other affected regions "a complete economic collapse will occur" unless there is a response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Even "a delay in responding to the outbreak of the epidemic, however, can lead to collapse."

The filers of the resolution at Abbott Laboratories, which meets on April 23, 2004 in Abbott Park, IL., are: Amalgamated Bank of New York; ASC Investment Group; Dominican Srs. of Great Bend, KS; Dominican Srs. of Springfield Illinois; Christian Brothers Investment Services; Grand Rapids Dominicans; Maryknoll Sisters; Pax World Balanced Fund; Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary; Society of Jesus - Detroit Province; Society of Jesus - Canada Province; Society of Jesus - Chicago Province; Society of Jesus - New Orleans Province; Society of Jesus - Maryland Province; Society of Jesus - Missouri Province; Society of Jesus - Wisconsin Province; Society of Jesus - Oregon Province; Society of Jesus - New York Province; and Trinity Health.

The filers of the resolution at Bristol-Myers Squibb, which meets on May 4, 2004 in Wilmington, DE., are: ASC Investment Group; Benedictine Srs. of Mt. Angel; Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, St. Joseph Province; Dominican Srs. of Springfield Illinois; Dominican Srs. of Great Bend, KS; Ethical Funds; Sinsinawa Dominicans; School Srs. of Notre Dame of St. Louis; Society of Jesus - Canada Province; Society of Jesus - Chicago Province; Society of Jesus - Detroit Province; Society of Jesus - Maryland Province; Society of Jesus - Missouri Province; Society of Jesus - New Orleans Province; Society of Jesus - New York Province; Society of Jesus - Oregon Province; Society of Jesus - Wisconsin Province; Srs. of Charity of St. Elizabeth, NJ; Srs. of St. Dominic of Caldwell, NJ; Srs. of St. Francis-Dubuque, Iowa; and Srs. of St. Francis of Philadelphia.

The filers of the resolution at Merck, which meets on April 27, 2004 in North Branch, N.J., are: ASC Investment Group; Boston Common Asset Management, LLC; Catholic Healthcare West; Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Brighton; Community Church of New York; Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace, St. Joseph Province; Ethical Funds; Maryknoll Sisters; Needmor Fund; Srs. of Loretto-CO; Society of Jesus - Maryland Province; Society of Jesus - Detroit Province; Society of Jesus - Missouri Province; Society of Jesus - Wisconsin Province; Society of Jesus - Oregon Province; Srs. of St. Joseph, Nazareth; Srs. of Charity of St. Elizabeth, NJ; United Methodist Church - General Board of Pension & Health Benefits; Unitarian Universalist Service Committee; Ursuline Provincialate, Eastern Province of the US; and Walden Asset Management.

The filers of the resolution at Pfizer, which meets on April 22, 2004 in St. Louis, MO., are: ASC Investment Group; Dominican Srs. of Columbus, OH; Dominican Srs. of Great Bend, KS; Religious of the Sacred Heart of Mary; Srs. of Charity of St. Elizabeth, NJ; Society of Jesus - Missouri Province; Society of Jesus - Maryland Province; Society of Jesus - New Orleans Province; Society of Jesus - Chicago Province; Society of Jesus - Wisconsin Province; Srs. of St. Joseph, Nazareth; Srs. of Mercy of the Americas - St. Louis Region; United Methodist Church - General Board of Pension & Health Benefits; and Ursuline Sisters, Rhinebeck, NY.

CONTACT: Stephanie Kendall, for ICCR, (703) 276-3254 or skendall@hastingsgroup.com or ICCR Public Health Program Director Daniel Rosan, ICCR, (212) 870-2317 (office), or drosan@iccr.org.

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