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The Baxter International Foundation Awards Grants in Five Countries to Improve Access to Healthcare
The Baxter International Foundation Awards Grants in Five Countries to Improve Access to Healthcare
Published 06-06-06
Submitted by Baxter International Inc.
"Throughout the world, limited government funding for healthcare, the growing number of uninsured and underinsured individuals, and natural and man-made disasters continue to increase the need for healthcare services," said Jim Utts, president, The Baxter International Foundation. "The foundation's fundamental purpose, reflected in these first-quarter grant awards, is to make a positive and lasting impact on the health of communities throughout the world."
Two-Year Foundation Grant Expands Baxter's Commitment to AmeriCares
One of the major grants approved in the first quarter will support Baxter's long-standing partner in international disaster relief and product donation distribution, AmeriCares. The foundation awarded AmeriCares $190,000 over two years to help launch a new warehouse in India, expanding the organization's geographic reach and speeding access to essential medicines to enhance healthcare services in Africa and Asia. Delivering aid directly from India will also reduce the time and expenses involved in shipping medical products. Currently, most product donations are sent out of the AmeriCares warehouses in Stamford, Conn. or Amsterdam, Netherlands, where shipping time to partners in Asia, Central Asia and Africa can take two months or more. This new facility, expected to open in the fall of this year, will significantly reduce transit time, allowing needed products to arrive more quickly in times of natural disaster. In addition to this grant, Baxter will also help supply the warehouse with its first round of product donations.
"The Baxter International Foundation's gift, given to support the launch of AmeriCares India, is another example of Baxter's long-standing commitment to improving lives in the global community," said Curt Welling, president and CEO of AmeriCares. "Since 1987, Baxter has been instrumental in AmeriCares emergency response efforts while also contributing to our ongoing programs. We are truly grateful for their latest contribution, which will help us to dramatically further our own mission of providing humanitarian relief to those most in need."
The foundation also partnered with the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (NSPCC), a leading non-governmental organization in the United Kingdom (UK) working to protect children from abuse. According to NSPCC, each week, nearly 700 children considered to be at risk of abuse are added to the UK child abuse registry. The organization's mission is to prevent children from suffering significant harm as a result of cruelty, help protect children who are at risk of harm, and protect children from future harm. The $67,000 grant will allow the organization to expand therapeutic services for abused children in Hampshire, England, and offer more extensive outreach activities to bring services to a number of satellite clinics through partner organizations.
Additional organizations that received grants in the first quarter of 2006 include:
A full listing of The Baxter International Foundation grants awarded in the first quarter of 2006 can be found at www.baxter.com/grants.
The Baxter International Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Baxter International Inc., helps organizations expand access to healthcare in the United States and around the world. The foundation, established in 1981, began to focus exclusively on increasing access to care in 2002 - particularly for the disadvantaged and underserved in and near communities where Baxter employees live and work.
Beyond its charitable giving, Baxter has been committed to advancing environmental stewardship and social responsibility for more than three decades. Baxter has been recognized by Innovest Strategic Value Advisors as one of the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World, and has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for seven consecutive years. Baxter is a member of The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College, the Business Environmental Leadership Council of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, the Chicago Climate Exchange, the U.S. EPA's Climate Leaders, the Ethics & Compliance Officer Association and Hospitals for a Healthy Environment. Baxter endorses the Coalition for Environmentally Responsible Economies (CERES) principles and is an organizational stakeholder of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI). To learn more about Baxter's sustainability initiatives, please visit . www.baxter.com/sustainability
Baxter International Inc., through its subsidiaries, assists healthcare professionals and their patients with the treatment of complex medical conditions, including cancer, hemophilia, immune disorders, kidney disease and trauma. The company applies its expertise in medical devices, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology to make a meaningful difference in patients' lives. For more information, please visit www.baxter.com.
Baxter International Inc.
Baxter International Inc.
At Baxter, sustainability means creating lasting social, environmental and economic value by addressing the needs of the company’s wide-ranging stakeholder base. The company's sustainability efforts support Baxter's mission to apply innovative science in the development of products and therapies that save and sustain patients' lives.
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