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Partner in Profile:

For Immediate Release

Contact:
Peggy Atherlay
203-524-2158
patherlay@AmeriCares.org

Donna Porstner
203-658-9579
dporstner@AmeriCares.org

STAMFORD, CT - AmeriCares this week pledged to expand its medical assistance across the United States at the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative in New York City. AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program, announced by President & CEO Curt Welling, is a two-year commitment to improve community health by donating medicines and medical supplies to health care organizations serving the uninsured and underinsured throughout the country. By increasing the resources of nonprofit medical centers, AmeriCares will enable more patients to receive high-quality, low-cost treatment. Providing patients with access to health care helps them control and manage their chronic conditions while offering an alternative to using over-burdened emergency rooms for primary care.

An estimated 46 million Americans lack health insurance. The vast majority are working families that do not earn enough to afford health insurance or pay for out-of-pocket for medical care. The uninsured crisis is getting worse as more Americans lose their jobs and their health insurance.

AmeriCares donations provide safety net health care facilities with medicines, diagnostic and treatment supplies so they can treat more uninsured and underinsured patients within their limited budgets. Last fiscal year, AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program supported 160 health care organizations in 30 states with over $20 million worth of essential medicines and supplies. The increased demand for the services at safety net clinics means that AmeriCares medical assistance is needed now more than ever.

With its CGI Commitment, AmeriCares aims to:
• Increase the value of medical products delivered from $20 million annually to $40 million;
• Expand program from 160 clinics in 30 states to 260 health care organizations in all 50 states;
• Introduce targeted initiatives for patients with asthma, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease;
• Identify critical supply gaps by conducting needs assessments and product surveys;
• Secure product donations from U.S. pharmaceutical companies to address gaps.

As part of its CGI commitment, AmeriCares will introduce targeted initiatives for patients with asthma, diabetes and cardiovascular disease in an effort to reduce emergencies brought on by untreated chronic conditions, helping to reduce the number of avoidable hospitalizations and emergency room visits.

Through AmeriCares involvement with CGI, as well as our current network of donors, we will engage with corporations, foundations and individuals who share our goal of improving health in the United States. We are pleased to announce this CGI Commitment to Action and look forward to providing you with further information and updates on the progress of our U. S. Medical Assistance Program.

About AmeriCares:
AmeriCares is a nonprofit international disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization which delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in crisis around the world.  Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $9 billion in humanitarian aid around the world and across the United States.  For more information, visit www.AmeriCares.org.

About The Clinton Global Initiative:
CGI was established in 2005 by President Clinton to turn ideas into action and to help the world move beyond the current state of globalization to a more integrated global community of shared benefits, responsibilities, and values. By gathering world leaders from a variety of backgrounds, CGI creates a unique opportunity to channel the capacities of individuals and organizations to realize change. To fulfill the action-oriented mission of CGI, all members devise practical solutions to global issues through the development of specific and measurable Commitments to Action.

Other Partners

As part of a global effort to reduce malnutrition, decrease childhood micronutrient deficiency, and increase child survival rates, AmeriCares and, ORIGIN|Unite are partnering to provide donations of 6*59™ Micronutrients to health care organizations helping children in need.
Boeing has been a dedicated partner in the AmeriCares mission to bring health and hope to people in desperate circumstances since 2009. Its Humanitarian Delivery Flight program has supported our emergency aid shipments to Chile, Indonesia, Pakistan, the Philippines and Somalia. The program is a collaborative effort among Boeing, its airline customers, domestic nonprofits and international nongovernment organizations to deliver humanitarian aid to communities in need around the world.
MedImmune is an AmeriCares Annual Emergency Response Partner and recognizes that planning and preparation are critical to a swift and effective relief response that ensures the delivery of urgent and ongoing medical care in emergency situations.
The Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York (JCCI) has been a loyal friend to Americans who have suddenly found their homes and communities devastated by disaster. JCCI’s first gift of support to the AmeriCares U.S. Disaster Fund came in response to the series of deadly tornadoes that swept through southern states in the spring of 2011.
MetLife Foundation began supporting the AmeriCares mission in 1995. Since then, the partnership has grown to include support for our Global Medical Assistance Program, AmeriCares operations in India and our emergency response capability around the world.
For more than 10 years, ING U.S., its employees and the ING Foundation have ensured that AmeriCares is prepared to respond when disaster strikes.
As part of its effort to increase access to quality health care for all Americans, the GE Foundation is continuing to generously support the AmeriCares U.S. Medical Assistance Program. The grant expands the reach of GE’s Developing Health program which drives GE’s “healthymagination” initiative, a commitment to help change the world’s approach to health care by lowering costs, touching more lives, and improving quality.
AmeriCares is proud and grateful to partner with WWE, its employees and fans in support of our emergency response in Haiti and Chile, and for other natural disasters around the world.
Since 1986, Purdue Pharma has donated over $115 million in cash and products to AmeriCares, demonstrating its long standing commitment to improved health worldwide.
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, through its Delivering Hope program that focuses on Hepatitis B and C in Asia, recently awarded a $144,500 grant to AmeriCares India to launch a health worker safety program at Jagjivan Ram Railway Hospital in Mumbai.
Oracle, the world's most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware systems company, recently donated products and services, along with a generous cash grant, to ensure we have the technology required to send aid whenever it’s needed, wherever it’s needed.
When the earthquake struck Haiti last year, Whole Foods Market sprang into action and launched a highly successful cash register campaign in its stores across the country to raise money for AmeriCares. Read More.
Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories, an India-based pharmaceutical company, has donated 1.5 tons of medicines, including antibiotics, pain relievers, gastrointestinal medicines, to treat disaster victims around the world.
XANGO Meal Packs contain many essential nutrients needed for a healthy diet and provide an important nutritional supplement suitable for both children and adults. XANGO has partnered with AmeriCares to deliver the Meal Packs where they are most needed -- to our programs in Cambodia, Malawi, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Mexico and the Philippines.
In honor of the Cambodia Breast Cancer Initiative and other lifesaving partnerships worldwide, AstraZeneca is AmeriCares Partner in Profile.
Over the past 20 years, Covidien has supported AmeriCares health programs around the world with much needed product donations ranging from assorted wound care supplies and sutures to pharmaceuticals and respiratory and monitoring devices.
Thanks in large part to Cardinal Health, more than 2,000 hospitals and health clinics AmeriCares supports worldwide have the medical consumables so essential for quality medical care. Since 1996, Cardinal Health has donated more than $20 million worth of products to AmeriCares for distribution to 83 countries.
Since 1986, Abbott has provided more than $500 million in medicines, nutritional supplements and medical supplies to people in need in more than 100 countries – including Survanta® for the prevention of respiratory distress syndrome in premature newborns in Kosovo. These donations support both AmeriCares ongoing health care programs as well as emergency shipments for Darfur refugees and survivors of major disasters like the 2008 Myanmar cyclone.
AmeriCares Honors Baxter with Power of Partnership Award