In Sudan's western region of Darfur, years of fighting have left hundreds of thousands of people dead and millions more without adequate living conditions or healthcare. Many acts of violence - and more than 250,000 refugees - have spilled across the border and into neighboring Chad, where they have joined 170,000 other men, women and children already huddled in crowded camps in the semi-desert region.

Chad, one of the world's poorest countries, offers little respite. Many of the camps are infested with disease, and people who do not die in the fighting often succumb to illnesses that could easily have been treated with proper medication.

But many refugees are receiving essential medical care. Through a partnership with the nonprofit relief agency Medical Assistance Programs (MAP) International, sanofi pasteur has provided 100,000 doses of diphtheria and tetanus vaccines to treat more than 30,000 people living in 12 camps along the border between Chad and Darfur.

The vaccination campaign focuses on immunizing women and older children who are most susceptible to these diseases.

"Sanofi pasteur's donation has come at a very critical time during the conflict," said Chris Palusky, relief director for MAP International. "The situation has become increasingly violent and conditions in the camps have grown progressively worse. Without the donations from sanofi pasteur, many people would die."

Michael Nyenhuis, president of MAP International, said sanofi pasteur's partnership with MAP has been instrumental.

"Sanofi pasteur has proven itself to be a frontrunner in the fight against disease," he said. "Their generosity will save the lives of the most vulnerable people in this conflict. They are literally alleviating suffering and death for thousands of women and children."

As a global relief and development agency, MAP International annually delivers more than $230 million in medicines and medical supplies to more than 110 countries. MAP also operates health clinics and healthcare programs in many of the world's areas affected by war and natural disaster.

Sanofi pasteur is the largest company in the world devoted entirely to human vaccines. Sanofi pasteur envisions a world in which no one suffers or dies from a vaccine-preventable disease.