1. Pledge on Privacy

The term "personal information" as used in this Policy refers to information from which your identity can reasonably be ascertained. Novartis is bound by the National Privacy Principles and complies with these principles to the extent required by the Privacy Act 1988 (C'th) .The next sections explain how and when we collect personal information from you.

2. Collection and Use of Personal Information

Novartis processes personal information for specific and limited purposes which we inform you about when we ask you for information. For example, we may collect and use personal data to provide you with products or services, to bill you for products and services you request, to market products and services which we think may be of interest to you, or to communicate with you for other purposes. Information you send to our customer service department is used only to help resolve your problem and is otherwise kept private. Novartis keeps your data only for as long as is reasonably needed for such purposes and in accordance with any applicable legal reporting or documentation retention requirements. We only collect personal information from you when you visit the Site if you use the "Contact Us" facility to send us an email. In this case we will use your personal information to respond to your email. We may also use this information to send you by e-mail certain product, health or other information which we consider to be of importance to you but will give you the opportunity to tell us if you do not want to receive this information.

3. Disclosure of Information

Personal information collected from users of the Site may occasionally be transferred to third parties who act for or on behalf of Novartis (such as our service providers, including mail houses, call centres and IT consultants), and to related companies of Novartis, including those located outside Australia . Such third parties may operate different privacy policies. However, we endeavour to ensure that such third parties provide the same level of protection as Novartis and, where appropriate, we will contractually require them to process personal information transferred to them only for the purposes expressly authorised by Novartis. We will not share with third parties any data about you that is sensitive (e.g., medical information) in the absence of your prior and explicit consent. Your consent may always be revoked at a later date. If consent is revoked Novartis may not be able to carry out certain requests made by you. Novartis will, where practicable, inform third parties to whom your data have been transferred of your withdrawal of consent.

4. Right of Access

You have the right to access and update your personal information unless certain circumstances, set out in the National Privacy Principles, apply. We take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information we hold is up-to-date, accurate, and complete. If you wish to access or correct your personal information held by us, please contact the webmaster. Your requests will be dealt with in a prompt and proper manner in accordance with the National Privacy Principles. No charge will be levied for requesting access or correction of your personal information, however, Novartis may charge a small fee to cover its costs of providing access.

5. Security and Confidentiality

Novartis takes reasonable steps to ensure the security and confidentiality of personal information that it collects on-line. Novartis uses data networks protected, inter alia, by firewall and password protection. Access to personal information is restricted to those employees who have a need to use the data, who have been trained to handle such data properly and observe strict standards of confidentiality. If an employee breaches our policies and procedures he/she will be disciplined accordingly. Staff compliance with our policies and procedures is regularly audited and reviewed. While we cannot guarantee against any loss, misuse or alteration to data, we try to prevent such unfortunate occurrences.

6. Data Transfer Abroad

Novartis is part of a global enterprise with databases in different jurisdictions. Novartis may transfer your personal information to one of its databases outside Australia. We will ensure that if we transfer data to Novartis databases outside Australia we will comply with any obligations we have under the National Privacy Principles in relation to that transfer.

7. Anonymous Data and "Cookies"

Most of the information that Novartis collects when you visit the Site is anonymous information, such as the pages you visit and searches you perform, which is processed by Novartis to help improve the contents of the Site and to compile aggregate statistics about use of the Site for internal, market research purposes. To collect this anonymous information, "cookies" may be sent via your browser and installed on your hard drive that collect the first level domain name of the user (e.g., "bigmail.com" from an e-mail address of "john@bigmail.com") and the date and time of access. "Cookies" by themselves cannot be used to discover the identity of the user. A "cookie" is a small piece of information which is sent to your browser and stored on your computer's hard drive. You can set your browser to notify you when you receive a "cookie", this will enable you to decide if you want to accept it or not.

8. Spamming Novartis does not condone "spamming".

Spamming is defined as sending unsolicited e-mails, usually of a commercial nature, in large numbers and repeatedly to individuals with whom the sender has had no previous contact or who have declined to receive such communications. If you contact us by email and Novartis believes that certain product, health, or other information is of importance to you, we may inform you by e-mail but will give you the choice to opt out of receiving further communications of this type.

9. Personal Information and Children

Novartis will not knowingly collect, use or disclose personal information from a minor under the age of 13, without obtaining prior consent from a person with parental responsibility (e.g., a parent or guardian) through direct off-line contact. We will provide the parent with (i) notice of the specific types of personal information being collected from the minor, and (ii) the opportunity to object to any further collection, use, or storage of such information.

10. Links to Other Sites

This Privacy Policy applies only to the Site. Other websites operated by Novartis entities outside Australia may have their own Privacy Policy. If you link from the Site to another website operated by a third party any personal information collected, used or disclosed as a result of your accessing that website will be subject to the relevant operator's privacy policy and any privacy laws which apply to that operator.

11. Contact Novartis

If you have any queries or complaints about our compliance with this Privacy Policy, or if you would like to make any recommendations or comments to improve the quality of our Privacy Policy, please contact the webmaster. This privacy policy is effective as of January 1, 2001. We aim to constantly improve the tools available to you to manage the data that you provide to us, and from time to time we may amend this Privacy Policy. Please refer to this page regularly to ensure you are familiar with our current Privacy Policy.

12. General Disclaimer

Novartis are not liable to you or anyone else for any loss or damage sustained in connection with the use of this web site or a linked web site. This general disclaimer is not restricted or modified by any of the following specific disclaimers.

13. The Web Site Generally

While Novartis use reasonable efforts to include accurate and up to date information in this web site, Novartis make no warranties or representations with respect to the content of the web site. To the extent allowable by law Novartis accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever rising from or in any way connected with the use of this web site or it's content. In particular, Novartis will not be liable for the accuracy, completeness, adequacy, timeliness, or comprehensiveness of the information contained on this web site. Novartis also assume no responsibility, and shall not be liable for, any damage to, or viruses that may infect, your computer equipment or other property on account of your access to, use of, or browsing in the web site or your downloading of any materials, data, text, images, video, or audio from the web site. Novartis reserve the right to interrupt or discontinue any or all of the functionality of this web site. Novartis accept no responsibility or liability whatsoever for any interruption or discontinuance of any or all functionality of this web site, whether the result of actions or omissions of Novartis or a third party. The information may contain technical inaccuracies or typographical errors. Novartis reserve the right to make changes, corrections and/or improvements to the information at any time without notice.

Although Novartis may from time to time monitor or review discussions, chats, postings, transmissions, bulletin boards, and the like on this web site, Novartis are under no obligation to do so and assumes no responsibility or liability arising from the content of any such locations, nor for any error, defamation, libel, slander, omission, falsehood, obscenity, pornography, profanity, danger, or inaccuracy contained in any information within such locations on this site. You are prohibited from posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, libellous, defamatory, obscene, scandalous, inflammatory, pornographic, or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offence, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law. Novartis will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing Novartis to disclose the identity of anyone posting any such information or materials.

14. Medical Information

The information contained on this website is general educational information only. It cannot be comprehensive and is intended only to provide a summary of the subject matter covered. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice or a face to face medical consultation or examination. Reasonable efforts are made to ensure the answers are accurate at the time of publishing but we cannot guarantee accuracy after that time since scientific information can change. You should not act on the basis of anything contained on this website without obtaining the advice of a qualified medical professional. Medical information changes rapidly and, while Novartis, and those who contribute to this web site, make every effort to ensure that the information contained on this web site is correct and current, to the extent permitted by law, no warranty can be given in this regard.