SYDNEY--30 Mar--AsiaNet/InfoQuest CHILDHOOD DISEASES... KUALA LUMPUR: The deadly diseases pneumonia and meningitiskill an estimated 1.8 million children under the age of 5 yearsacross the globe every year. Of these, more than 700,000 occurin the countries in the South-East Asia and Western Pacificregions of the World Health Organization. Experts are meetingin Malaysia to focus on two particularly concerning vaccine-preventable causes of pneumonia and meningitis: the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae type B and Streptococcus pneumoniae. http://www.preventpneumo.org http://www.HibAction.org PEPSICO EARNINGS... PURCHASE, N.Y.: PepsiCo, Inc. has announced that its first-quarter 2006 earnings conference call and slide presentation for financial analysts and investors will be webcast live over the internet on Wednesday, April 26, at 11 a.m. (ET). http://www.pepsico.com ENERGY-FRIENDLY BUILDINGS... GENEVA: The World Business Council for Sustainable development announced that it is forming an alliance of leading global companies to determine how buildings can be designed and constructed so that they use no energy from external powergrids, are carbon neutral, and can be built and operated at fair market values. QUINTILES JAPAN... RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.: Quintiles Transnational Corp. has announced the appointment of Yoh Narimatsu as President and Chief Executive Officer of Quintiles Transnational Japan K.K. (Quintiles Japan) effective April 1. Narimatsu, who has more than 30 years of international business experience, will lead all operations of Quintiles Japan. http://www.quintiles.com CHINA OFFICE... SHANGHAI: Citigroup opened its first Private Bank office in mainland China at a ceremony at Citigroup Tower attended byTodd Thomson, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of Citigroup Global Wealth Management. www.citigroup.com http://xprnnews.xfn.info/Citigroup/CitigroupPhoto3.htm PRELIMINARY RESULTS... LUND, Sweden: AstraZeneca has welcomed preliminary results from the TORCH (TOwards a Revolution in COPD Health) study, suggesting combination therapies containing an inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta 2 agonist have thepotential to show mortality benefits for COPD patients. AsiaNet is a consortium of leading news agencies distributing unedited, translated news releases for worldwide clients. Visit www.asianetnews.net for full-text versions.