AstraZeneca donation to benefit poor and uninsured Americans

AstraZeneca, the global biopharmaceutical company, has donated $3.8 million worth of prescription medicines to AmeriCares for chronically ill Americans who rely on safety net clinics for their medical care. The donation is one of the largest AmeriCares received in the past year for its domestic aid deliveries.

AmeriCares is delivering the medicines to free clinics and community health centers through its U.S. Medical Assistance Program, which provides free medicines and medical supplies to 400 health care facilities serving the poor and uninsured across the United States. The AstraZeneca products are expected to benefit patients of about 100 clinics in 28 states.

"The medicines donated by AstraZeneca are among the most frequently requested products by our partner clinics," said Morgan White, manager of AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program. "Thanks to our partnership with AstraZeneca, we are helping the most vulnerable Americans."

Among the clinics receiving AstraZeneca products are:

• The Way Free Medical Clinic in Florida, where patients have been hard hit by the collapse of the housing market.
• Traverse Health Clinic in Michigan, where the unemployment rate is one of the highest in the nation.
• Sacred Heart Community Clinic in Texas, where 25 percent of state residents are uninsured – the highest rate in the country.

Christy Fitzgerald, executive director of The Way Free Medical Clinic in Green Cove Springs, Fla., which received nearly $50,000 worth of AstraZeneca medicines, said the donation has greatly helped patients in the construction industry who have lost jobs or had their hours cut and can no longer afford health insurance. The asthma medicines have been particularly beneficial, she said, because they have allowed the clinic to begin treating patients on the spot.

"Donations like this one are critical because we could never afford to purchase these medicines for our patients," Fitzgerald said.

This is the third consecutive year AstraZeneca has supported AmeriCares aid deliveries in the U.S. with a major donation. The company also supports AmeriCares global disaster response work and aid deliveries in the developing world with product donations. Since 2003, AstraZeneca has donated essential medicines to AmeriCares valued at more than $63 million.

SOURCE AmeriCares