RIYADH, 8 March 2004 — Al-Safi-Danone, the largest integrated dairy farm in the world with an area of 35 sq. km. and a herd of 29,000 cows, launched a social awareness campaign in cooperation with the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research (PSCDR) yesterday. A total of SR5 million will be donated by Al-Safi-Danone to PSCDR to promote its research programs and to carry out a disability awareness drive.
Addressing a press conference, Prince Sultan ibn Salman, chairman of the PSCDR Board of Trustees, said that the private initiative would help to integrate handicapped children into the mainstream of Saudi society. “The PSCDR is the first research facility of its kind in the Arab world working to improve the quality of life for handicapped people,” said Prince Sultan.
The conference was attended by a number of interested people including Muhammad ibn Abdul Aziz Al-Sarhan, managing director of Al-Safi-Danone.
The campaign is significant because a total of 10-15 percent of the Saudi population is suffering from a disability. Nearly 18 percent suffer from disabilities because of genetic factors. The average per capita income per disabled person per year in the Kingdom is SR8,371 which is grossly inadequate to maintain them.
Referring to the PSCDR-Al-Safi-Danone initiative, Prince Sultan said that it would “benefit the community as a whole. As part of the initiative, Al-Safi-Danone will support PSCDR with a sum of SR1 million every year for a period of five years in support of the specialized research programs the center undertakes for the prevention of disability.”
“Our company in cooperation with the PSCDR will also organize a public campaign to educate people about the problems of disabilities,” explained Prince Muhammad ibn Khaled ibn Abdullah Al-Faisal, who called on local companies to support health and research initiatives.
“Our policy has always been to work with the community and allow ourselves to be fully integrated into the community to help with humanitarian causes,” said Prince Muhammad. “We will support the center through the sales of our dairy products including milk and laban,” said the prince who added: “If you buy any Al-Safi laban or milk, you will contribute 10 halalas to the Al-Safi-Danone social program with the objective of raising SR1 million to support PSCDR.”
