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A Small Gesture to Fight Against Leukemia

Heike Bertus-Stover and Jutta Düenschede — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 16:24:36 +0000

Employees at BNP Paribas in Germany collaborated this past December 8th with DKMS, the largest stem cell donor center in the world fighting against leukemia.

More than 80 employees participated in this initiative, first by registering on the DKMS website, then by giving a saliva sample to representatives at the DKMS facilities located in the city of Frankfurt am Main.

DKMS belongs to a network of organizations under the umbrella of DKMS Stiftung Leben Spenden (DKMS Foundation for Donating Life). All DKMS organizations are actively committed to the fight against leukemia and other diseases of the hematopoietic cell system.

Even though DKMS is the world’s largest donor center with 2,593,264 registered stem cell donors, the driving motivation behind this project comes from the fact that every 45 minutes a person is diagnosed with leukemia, and that’s in Germany alone!

BNL and the 2011 Telethon: a 20-year Marathon of Solidarity

Isabelle Palsky — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 10:09:41 +0000

For the 20th anniversary of the Telethon in Italy, BNL BNP Paribas will leverage its skills and mobilise its employees to contribute to this marathon of solidarity, as it does every year.

During the three days of the Telethon in Italy, on 16, 17 and 18 December, BNL has planned a range of measures to support the Telethon:

• More than 1,000 cultural, sporting, artistic and culinary events, including the “Maratona tv” (the TV Marathon), the Tennis Telethon and the Opera Telethon
• All BNL branches will remain open on Friday, 16 December until 10pm and on Saturday, 17 December until midnight.

In addition, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the Telethon, a giant tennis racket symbolising BNP Paribas’ commitment and loyalty to both the sport of tennis and to the Telethon will be presented on Italian television during the three days of the event.

But BNL BNP Paribas’ commitment doesn’t end there! With the aim of helping to raise the awareness of as many people as possible about the Telethon, a number of initiatves will continue throughout the year:

•   the Telethon Tennis Tournaments (I Tornei di Telethon del Tennis)
•   the Opera Telethon
•   BNL in Action
•   BNL MyCash for the Telethon
•   the BNL Credit Card

These initiatives demonstrate the solidarity that exists among the Group’s customers and employees, who together form a community of people who are the real “eroi del quotidianno” (everyday heroes), as BNL’s new communication campaign for the Telethon puts it.

For more information about the Telethon in Italy

A scientific conference for employees in Hong Kong

Joyce Leung — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 18:04:57 +0000

In line with the BNP Paribas Group corporate philanthropy policy, CIB allocated its end-of-the-year budget to Institut Pasteur’s battle against infectious diseases, which has been taking place since 2008.

As part of their global partnership, CIB for Health and Medical Research, and CIB Hong Kong have been financing the HKU-PRC degree on dengue fever virus since 2009.

Thanks to this partnership, employees of BNP Paribas in Hong Kong were able to attend the conference given by Doctor Roberto Bruzzone on “The role of scientific research on infectious bugs and their impact on society” which took place on October 27th.

Doctor Bruzzone, who is the Scientific Director of Hong Kong University-Pasteur Research Centre (HKU-PRC), gave a rousing presentation using colourful examples and provided a clear and relevant understanding on this rather complex topic.

The internationally recognised cell biologist also unveiled the secret of viruses and outlined the bank’s contribution to the research carried out by the Institut Pasteur.

The employees present at the conference were able to better understand the existing public health risks related to infectious diseases as well as the research that is being carried out in this area.

Paris to London Cycle Ride

Isabelle Palsky — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 16:29:29 +0000

On 1 October 2011, 16 employees of BNP Paribas Real Estate in the United Kingdom embarked on a 4-day cycling race from the company’s headquarters in Issy-les-Moulineaux to its London headquarters. The race was organised to support research into the fight against blood cancer.

16 cyclists participated in a fantastic challenge:

This 563 km race was organised to benefit the British Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research association, which supports research into the fight against blood cancer, particularly leukaemia and lymphoma.
Our colleagues in the UK have set themselves the goal of raising € 11,500, which will be donated in full to the association.

BNP Paribas Real Estate UK’s commitment to blood cancer research

Since 2009, BNP Paribas Real Estate UK employees’ involvement in numerous events and challenges has raised about € 80,000 for the Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research association. The research focuses on the causes, improved diagnosis and treatments of these diseases and supports advanced clinical trials to help patients with blood cancer. The funds raised have already contributed to funding research and saving lives.

To make a donation to Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research,

For information on how to make a donation when resident outside of the UK

BlogTV: Encounters for change with Mao Chan and Etoile de Martin

Mao Chan — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 15:34:59 +0000

L’Etoile de Martin is a French association created in 2006 by young Martin’s parents. One year long, the little boy fought valiantly against a malignant brain tumour before “reaching the stars”. Laurent and Servanne, his parents, wished to honour his memory and share their experience with other parents who have to face the same disease.

Indeed, cancer does not spare anybody: neither women, nor men and even not children. This disease is the number one cause of child mortality in France.

I only got close to this alarming reality when my own son, Benjamin, who was one and a half at the time, was diagnosed with cancer, a malignant brain tumour. Since, supported by relatives, the BNP Paribas Foundation, colleagues and my hierarchy, I have joined L’Etoile de Martin. As in the recent movie of Valerie Donzelli (“Declaration of War”), we have decided to declare war on the disease.

L’Etoile de Martin is supported by BNP Paribas Foundation’s Coup de pouce programme.

BlogTV: “Multisensory Stimulation Therapy” from the Papillons blancs – A.P.E.I. in Douai

Isabelle Palsky — Mon, 12 Sep 2011 09:49:47 +0000

Founded in 1962, Les Papillons Blancs – The White Butterflies – is an association of parents of children with disabilities. Its purpose is to enable these children to participate fully in normal activities and experiences, just like any other child.

It has four key principles:

•   Asserting the children’s right to life, education, culture, leisure activities etc.
•   Strengthening the bond between the individuals who are supported by the association and the families
•   The uniqueness of the individual
•   Citizenship

To support these aims, the association uses the “Snoezelen” method, also known as controlled multisensory stimulation, which was developed in the Netherlands in the 1970s. This method plunges children with disabilities into a genuine sensory immersion environment: heated water mattresses, bubble columns, and more.

This programme focuses on developing long-term relationships with the children.

Les Papillons blancs is supoorted by BNP Paribas Foundation’s Coup de pouce Programme.

Teaming up with the Institut Pasteur to fight Dengue fever

Joyce Leung — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:07:10 +0000

For the past two years, BNP Paribas Corporate & Investment Banking (CIB) Hong Kong has donated its end-of-year gifts budget to support research on the dengue virus at the HKU-Pasteur Research Centre.

The HKU-Pasteur Research Centre is a joint laboratory created in 1999 as a long-term collaborative project in Hong Kong between Institut Pasteur and the University of Hong Kong, with the goal of fighting infectious diseases through biological research and teaching.

To shed more light on the work being done by this institution, we spoke to Dr Roberto Bruzzone, the Chief Executive Officer of HKU-Pasteur Research Centre, and Dr Peigang Wang, a postdoctoral fellow at the centre. They shared their insights into the research project the bank helps sponsor.

What is the mission of the HKU-Pasteur Research Centre?

The mission is to foster an interdisciplinary approach to confront the challenges posed by viral infections, with a special focus on respiratory viruses and dengue. Our ambition is to maintain leadership as a regional centre to study the interactions between pathogens and host cells, which are the battlefields of infections, and to generate novel information on fundamental processes of infectious diseases that may be translated into clinical applications.

Could you tell us a little bit more about the role of the Pasteur Network in Asia?

Asia is a key region for new emerging diseases such as SARS, avian flu, dengue, drug-resistant malaria and tuberculosis, some of which have the potential to cause pandemics. The nine institutes of the Asia-Pacific Pasteur Network are based in six different countries and provide a regional coverage for research, training and public health activities. We have developed outstanding human skills, cutting-edge technical resources as well as strong ties with national and international authorities and organisations to conduct current and future investigations on pandemic and epidemic pathogens at the national and regional levels.

Of all infectious viruses in Asia, why have you chosen the dengue virus?

Dengue is the most prevalent mosquito-borne virus and its increasing incidence and severity make it a disease that could threaten increasing geographical areas. Dengue infection is endemic in more than 100 countries and about 50 to 100 million people are infected every year. Despite the increased health and economic impact of dengue, there are as yet no specific preventive or therapeutic interventions.

The sponsorship of BNP Paribas, together with other funds, has been crucial to support the dengue team, which is lead by Dr Peigang Wang.

Dengue fever is potential threat to almost half of the world’s population (2.5 billion people). Facing this endemic virus with no specific treatments, are there any measures we can take to prevent transmission?

Dengue viruses are transmitted mainly by Aedes mosquitoes. Therefore, the best measure to reduce dengue virus transmission, as indicated by WHO, depends entirely on control of the mosquito vectors or interruption of human–vector contact. More information on the measures on preventing mosquito-borne diseases can be found at the Centre for Health Protection.

This partnership in Hong Kong is part of BNP Paribas CIB’s global sponsorship programme with Institut Pasteur – a nonprofit private Foundation which contributes to the prevention and treatment of infectious diseases. This sponsorship programme, namely “CIB for Health and Medical Research”, was established in 2008 and the total global donation to date amount to 1.3 million euros. Besides the study in Hong Kong, BNP Paribas CIB also supports the Institut’s research programmes across twenty countries including vaccines against measles and HIV (France), hepatitis C (Japan, Spain), malaria (Brazil), polio (Russia) and tuberculosis (The Netherlands).

BlogTV: Solidarity and disease prevention with Pesinet

Lily Dionne — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 14:04:18 +0000

Setting up a system of prevention and early detection of childhood diseases in countries lacking proper medical resources: this is the vision of Pesinet.

Since its creation in 2007, this organization has built a team of 7 employees who are in the field, committed to implementing a procedure that helps quickly identify benign diseases in children–dysentery, malaria, acute respiratory infections, and others.

These diseases continue to be at the root of 65% of child mortality across Africa.

Using the internet and mobile devices to their advantage, Pesinet is working hard to reduce this shocking statistic to zero.

BNP Paribas and its Foundation support Pesinet.

BlogTV: A weekend of growth with Grandir

Lily Dionne — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 16:33:09 +0000

Every year, the members of the “Grandir” association go on a weekend retreat in the French countryside. The organization’s goal is to provide information to the parents of children with Growth Hormone Deficiency, as well as to give them support and advice in both medical and personal domains.

And so kids, parents, association members and experts come together for two days. The kids play together in a summer camp-like atmosphere, while adults take part in dynamic, highly personal workshops. Here are their stories…

“Grandir” receives support from the BNP Paribas Foundation’s “Coup de pouce” programme.