Hasso Plattner Foundation Grant Brings Hope to the Southern Cape Community Presidents Cup Host Establishes HIV/AIDS Prevention Programme in South Africa GEORGE, South Africa, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As part of his continued personal commitment to South Africa and its people, Prof. Dr. Hasso Plattner, co-founder of SAP and chairman of the company's supervisory board, has announced the foundation of "Isombululo," an HIV/AIDS education and prevention programme. The Hasso Plattner Foerderstiftung (Hasso Plattner Foundation) will donate $6 million to finance Isombululo, a Xhosa word meaning 'solution.' The programme will focus on HIV/AIDS research, health promotion and education of the population in the Southern Cape community; training of local medical staff and treatment for people with the illness throughout the region. The announcement was made at The Presidents Cup, one of the world's leading international golf tournaments, hosted in South Africa at Fancourt, November 18 - 23. The tournament is supported by DaimlerChrysler, South African Airways and SAP. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/SFM002LOGO ) Isombululo will bring together two top South African academic partner institutions, the University of Natal and the University of Cape Town, to support health promotion in the Southern Cape region. This venture marks the first time that two South African universities are joining forces in the fight against HIV/AIDS. The programme joins two distinguished scholars: Professor Jerry Coovadia of the Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, University of Natal, and Professor Wieland Gevers of the Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine, University of Cape Town. Together with Plattner, both researchers have been actively involved in the creation of the programme, which has the support and the participation of the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. "The HIV/AIDS tragedy is one that urgently needs to be addressed by all responsible corporate citizens. It poses a challenge for everyone who is not only committed to the people of Africa but to mankind," said Plattner. "Isombululo will demonstrate that a focused effort by both public and private interests can bring about solutions that will benefit the community as a whole." The objectives of the programme will be to address the health problems posed by HIV/AIDS and opportunistic co-infections such as tuberculosis in the Southern Cape communities by supporting ways that complement existing and new services offered by the respective health authorities. Isombululo will support the research facilities of the University of Natal and the University of Cape Town to contribute to health promotion and finding local solutions to the scourge of HIV/AIDS. Additionally, the programme will help the partners establish modes of effective collaboration that can be applied to other projects in the future, which will enable the lessons and ideas of Isombululo to reach and benefit populations throughout South Africa, the African continent and all over the world. "Isombululo is a project in the true spirit of the Presidents Cup," said Timothy Finchem, PGA Tour commissioner. "The PGA Tour has generated more than $500 million worldwide to charities and we hope that the global exposure of the Presidents Cup, will help raise awareness of the urgent need to address HIV/AIDS in South Africa." Prof. Dr. Hasso Plattner co-founded SAP in 1972. Today, SAP is the world's leading provider of business software solutions. Plattner is a member of South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki's International Task Force on Information, Society and Development. Inspired by Plattner's long-standing commitment to South Africa, SAP is also devoted to investing in the well-being of African communities in a socially and economically sustainable manner. As a co-founder of the World Childhood Foundation, SAP is engaged in the Philani Outreach Programme, a self-help initiative for women in Cape Town to promote better health education among young mothers in the region. SAP is also one of the primary initiator of two e-Learning projects in the Western Cape Region: Distributed Advanced Strategic System for Industrial e-Learning (DASSIE) and the African Drive Project (ADP). Both projects are designed to facilitate the technical education for students as well as their teachers. For more information, contact: Mr Kwakye Donkor, Marketing Manager, Fancourt E-Mail: Ms Sandy Thackeray, PR Manager, Fancourt E-Mail: Fancourt Tel.: +27 (44) 8040436 Mobile: +27 (83) 630 4063 http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20020923/SFM002LOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: SAP AG CONTACT: Mr Kwakye Donkor, Marketing Manager, , or Ms Sandy Thackeray, PR Manager, , both of Fancourt, +27 (44) 8040436, or Mobile, +27 (83) 630 4063 Web site: http://www.sap.com/

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