Univision Donates $10 million dollars in Public Service Support to DKMS

Joining in the Fight Against Leukemia

New York, NY, May 8, 2009 – Last night at the 3rd annual DKMS gala, Univision Communications, Inc., the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States, announced that the company would be donating $10 million dollars in public support across their three television networks, 64 television stations, 72 radio stations, Univision.com and Univision movil to encourage and recruit more Hispanic bone marrow donors. This effort is part of Univision’s Peabody Award winning “Salud es Vida ¡Entérate!” (Lead a Healthy Life, Get the Facts) campaign. At the star studded event - held in New York City - Rihanna, Mario Cantone, Vera Wang, Betsey Johnson, and Amy Ryan joined forces in the Fight Against Leukemia.

Each year DKMS honors an individual for their commitment to help create awareness about the importance of bone marrow donation. This year’s honoree was Mr. Joe Uva, chief executive officer, Univision Communications Inc. He received the Mechtild Harf Award for his continual support of DKMS and his ongoing efforts to educate and inform people on how they can help save a life through bone marrow donation.

“I was extremely humbled and honored to receive the prestigious Mechtild Harf Award,” said Joe Uva, chief executive officer, Univision Communications, Inc. “Recognizing the need to inform and engage the Hispanic community in the fight against leukemia, only three out of 10 patients find a match and that ratio is even lower among Hispanics, we felt it was our duty to further extend our commitment to DKMS and partner with them on a multi-platform public service campaign.”

“Joe has used his leadership to help those who would otherwise go unnoticed and has been a tremendous supporter of this effort. Today’s announcement speaks to the unwavering commitment he and Univision have to fight against cancer and blood disease,” said Katharina Harf, executive vice president, DKMS Americas. “We look forward in working together in growing the number of Hispanics that understand and become a part of the bone marrow donor program.”

DKMS is committed to the fight against leukemia. The not for profit organization strives to give every blood cancer patient a second chance at life by recruiting bone marrow donors from every race and ethnicity. They inspire hope and healing by matching donors with patients from around the world who are in need of a transplant. Previous DKMS honorees include, Cindy Crawford and Manny Chirico, CEO of Philips Van Heusen, a lymphoma survivor himself.

“Salud es Vida, ¡Entérate!” is a Peabody Award winning cross-platform comprehensive health initiative to educate and heighten awareness of health issues and encourage healthy lifestyles among the U.S. Hispanic community. Since its inception, hundreds of public service announcements and educational vignettes have been produced and broadcast on Univision television stations, Univision Radio, and viewed on Univision Online. Univision Network talent and international celebrities have joined this effort by appearing on national PSA’s and special programs. Univision.com developed the most comprehensive Spanish-language health-related webpage in the U.S., which has become a critical resource for Hispanics.

Univision’s more than 40-year legacy of championing the Hispanic community has resulted in recognition from organizations such as the America’s Blood Centers, American Heart Association, Cable Positive, National Broadcasters Association and the National Council of La Raza, to name a few. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the Univision Network delivers almost three times more public service advertising and twice as many total day per hour than the English-language broadcast networks. As the country’s leading Spanish-language network reaching 85% of U.S. Hispanic households, Univision Network today is also one of the top five networks regardless of language.

ABOUT DKMS

DKMS began in Germany with the mission of one man. In 1990, Peter Harf was desperate to find a donor for his wife Mechtild, who was diagnosed with acute leukemia. The search seemed hopeless because, at the time, there were only 3,000 unrelated donors available in Germany. He worked tirelessly gathering friends, family and volunteers to organize donor drives, successfully recruiting more than 65,000 donors in one year.

DKMS or "Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei" (German Bone Marrow Donor Center in English) was officially founded in 1991 by Peter Harf and his wife's physician, Dr. Gerhard Ehninger. Their goal was simple: to build a major bone marrow donor center to help leukemia patients worldwide find their life-saving match. Today, DKMS is the largest bone marrow donor center in the world with more than 1.8 million registered donors. Since its founding, DKMS has facilitated over 17,000 transplants.

In 2004, DKMS opened an office in New York City to diversify its donor pool, by registering more bone marrow donors in the U.S. Since 2006, DKMS has registered more than 70,000 donors, which allowed more than 80 patients to receive a life-saving transplant.

For more information about DKMS and to register as a bone marrow donor visit www.dkmsamericas.org.