Date published: 01.09.08 - not release date

BREAKING NEWS ON BONES; What Women Need to Know and Do for Total Protection against Osteoporotic Fractures

When one in two women over 50 will suffer a fracture1, maintaining good bone health makes real sense. To that end, and to mark Osteoporosis Awareness Month, a leading group of health and wellbeing experts have launched the Act Now Protect the Future Guide.

The Act Now Protect the Future Guide, aimed at women of all ages, contains simple and constructive advice for women to take to prevent or manage osteoporosis, including:

•For women under 40; How to assess your risk of osteoporosis and what changes you need to make to your lifestyle, including diet and exercise adaptations – enabling you to make changes that will improve your bone health for the future

•For all women, but particularly those over 40; Critical questions to ask your doctor about your medicines and your individual risk factors. So you can understand more about your personal risk of fractures and are informed and involved in decisions about treatments you may be prescribed by your doctor

“If there’s one thing women should take away from this guide, it’s the importance of asking their doctors if they are at risk of fractures and what they can do to minimise the risk.”
Doctor Dawn Harper, Co-Author

ACT NOW PROTECT THE FUTURE GUIDE AUTHORS:

•Dr Richard Keen (Consultant Rheumatologist)

•Dr Dawn Harper (GP)

•Dr Sarah Schenker (Dietician and Nutritionist)

•Matt Roberts (Fitness Expert and Trainer)

•Dr Wendy Clyne (Medicines Partnership Programme)

OSTEOPOROSIS: A TIME FOR CHANGE:

Despite 3 million people suffering from osteoporosis in the UK2, many people are unaware of its implications and impact. The nationwide survey What Women Want*, conducted by the Alliance for Better Bone Health (Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals and sanofi-aventis) and the Medicines Partnership, explored women’s fears about their health as they get older and showed that the greatest fear among women was cancer, accounting for 56% of those questioned.3 Only 4% of respondents feared developing osteoporosis or fracturing a hip3, despite the lifetime risk for women dying from hip fracture complications equaling the risk of dying from breast cancer.4

Broken bones caused by osteoporosis can be excruciatingly painful. A fracture at the hip or spine can have an enormous impact on quality of life:

•70,000 hip fractures (symptomatic osteoporotic) occur in the UK each year 5

•20% of women who suffer a hip fracture die within the next 12 months 6

•Hip fracture can lead to serious disability, one in two women cannot dress independently and only one in seven can walk without assistance six months after the event. 7

WHAT THE CO-AUTHOR EXPERTS SAY :

“Once a patient has been diagnosed with osteoporosis, there are several treatment options available to them. Not all medicines, however, are the same and patients need to be more involved in decisions with their doctors to ensure that they take a medicine which will suit their needs,” stated Doctor Richard Keen.

“Osteoporosis is often called the ‘silent disease’ because bone loss occurs without any obvious signs. Many people do not know what foods can improve bone strength and which vitamins can help to increase calcium take-up in our bones,” commented diet specialist, Doctor Sarah Schenker.

Doctor Wendy Clyne added, “The other query often bothering women is how to talk to their doctor and what questions to ask when it comes to osteoporosis. This is also where this guide can help and the key information listed below gives women an idea of what sort of questions to ask their doctor.”

Matt Roberts, Fitness Expert and Trainer advised, “You don’t have to be a fitness fanatic to incorporate some simple, easy weight bearing exercises into your daily routine that can help maintain bone density and help prevent osteoporosis.”

The Act Now Protect the Future Guide is available at www.actnowosteo.co.uk or by phoning 020 8392 6924.

-Ends-

KEY INFORMATION:

•Ask your doctor what your risk of osteoporosis is

•Key questions to ask your doctor if you are prescribed an osteoporosis treatment to prevent fractures

•WHAT does this medicine do? Will it reduce the risk of me fracturing my spine, or my hip if I fall over?

•WHY is it important that I take this medicine? Are there any other treatment options that may be suitable for me and what are the pros and cons of these?

•WHEN and how should I take it?

•HOW long should I take it for? How can I further reduce my risk of fracturing?

•WHAT should I be aware of when taking this medicine?

•WHERE can I go for more information?

FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Jo Dixon
Red Door Communications
Tel: 020 8392 8098
jdixon@rdcomms.com

Rose Lockett
Red Door Communications
Tel: 020 8392 8091
Email: rlockett@rdcomms.com

ALLIANCE FOR BETTER BONE HEALTH CONTACT:

David Keown, sanofi-aventis
Tel: 01483 554447

NOTES TO EDITORS:

* The What Women Want survey was conducted in 1,632 adult women, and the results revealed that 84% of women surveyed want to be involved in decisions about their medication. The effectiveness of the medicine was their number one concern.

The Act Now Protect the Future Guide was funded by the Alliance for Better Bone Health.

About The Alliance for Better Bone Health

The Alliance for Better Bone Health was formed by Procter & Gamble Pharmaceuticals and Aventis part of the sanofi-aventis Group, in May 1997 to promote bone health and disease awareness through numerous activities to support physicians and patients around the globe.

ABOUT PPROCTER & GAMBLE:

Three billion times a day, P&G brands touch the lives of people around the world. The company has one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Actonel®, Asacol®, Vicks®, Pepto-bismol®, Metamucil®, Thermacare®, Crest®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Ariel®, Fairy®, Ace®, Lenor®, M. Propre®, Always®, Pantene®, Herbal Essences®, Head & Shoulders®, Olay®, Wella, Mach3®, Bounty®, Pringles®, Charmin®, Iams®, Duracell®, Gillette® and Braun®. The P&G community consists of almost 140,000 employees working in over 80 countries worldwide.

Please visit www.pg.com for the latest news and in-depth information about P&G and its brands.

For more info about P&G Pharmaceuticals, please visit www.pgpharma.com

ABOUT SANOFI-AVENTIS:

Sanofi-aventis is the world’s third-largest pharmaceutical company, ranking number one in Europe. Backed by a world-class R&D organization, sanofi-aventis is developing leading positions in seven major therapeutic areas: cardiovascular, thrombosis, oncology, metabolic diseases, central nervous system, internal medicine, and vaccines. The sanofi-aventis Group is listed in Paris (EURONEXT: SAN) and in New York (NYSE: SNY).

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS:

This press release contains forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are statements that aren't historical facts.

These statements include financial projections and estimates and their underlying assumptions, statements regarding plans, objectives and expectations with respect to future operations, products and services, and statements regarding future performance. Forward-looking statements are generally identified by the words “expect”, “anticipates”, “believes”, “intends”, “estimates”, “plans” and similar expressions.

Although sanofi-aventis’ management believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, investors are cautioned that forward-looking information and statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of sanofi-aventis, that could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied or projected by, the forward-looking information and statements.

These risks and uncertainties include those discussed or identified in the public filings with the SEC and the AMF made by sanofi-aventis, including those listed under “Risk Factors” and “Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” in sanofi-aventis’ annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2004. Other than as required by applicable law, sanofi-aventis does not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking information or statements.

The sanofi-aventis Group conducts business in the U.S. through its affiliates Sanofi-Synthelabo Inc. and Aventis Pharmaceuticals Inc.

REFERENCES

1-National Osteoporosis Society website (visited May 2006) www.nos.org.uk/about.htm

2-Chartered Society of Physiotherapy website (visited May 2006)
www.csp.org.uk/director/physiotherapyexplained/features/oste...

3-What Women Want, January 2006. Market research survey conducted by Tickbox.net 517-522.

4-International Osteoporosis Foundation Committee of Scientific Advisors; Osteoporosis in the Workplace, prepared by WHO Collaborating Centre, WHO Conference 2002

5-National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE): Technology Appraisal Guidance 87 for the secondary prevention of osteoporotic fragility fractures in post-menopausal women, 2005. Full report available on www.nice.org.uk

6-Cumming R, Nevitt M, Cummings S. Epidemiology of Hip Fractures. Epidemiologic Reviews 1997; 19(2):244-256

7-Marottoli R, et al. Decline in physical function following hip fracture JAGS 1992; 40:861-6