Responding to the devastating tsunami that struck South Asia, Bristol-Myers Squibb provided $1.2 million in direct assistance and $7 million in product donations to relief agencies to help rebuild the lives of those affected.

Product Donations Rationale/Overview

Bristol-Myers Squibb's mission is to extend and enhance human life by providing the highest-quality pharmaceutical and related health care products. To help achieve that mission and expand access to its products, they are provided without charge for many in need around the globe both for humanitarian and for disaster relief.

The company has a long history of donating medicines for humanitarian purposes to designated U.S.-based nongovernmental organizations, supporting both long-term and sustainable health care programs for underserved populations in the developing world as well as providing short-term emergency relief for victims of natural or man-made disasters.

In addition to supporting the company's mission and the values expressed in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Pledge to the "world we serve," the donation programs serve other important goals. First, by working with its partners, the company makes product donations that help build and support sustainable health programs around the world. Second, these efforts affect many lives: people who would otherwise go without much needed medicines. Often, these medicines reach people who live in remote areas of the world, without access to either medical care or medicines. These people have come to rely on these donations, and the company is pleased to do the right thing for them. Finally, the company’s Patient Assistance Programs provide an important opportunity for the company to expand access to medicines in the U.S. to those who have no insurance or ability to pay.

In 2005, company product donations for humanitarian assistance were valued at approximately $70 million at wholesale and supported programs in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, Eastern and Central Europe, Mexico, Latin America, the Middle East and the NIS region of the former Soviet Union. Products are donated to our designated non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to support health care programs throughout the world.

Disaster relief was an important part of that effort. In Asia, Bristol-Myers Squibb provided $1.2 million in direct assistance and $7 million in donated medicines and other needed products. In Pakistan, the company worked with closely through partnerships with international relief agencies including Direct Relief International, AmeriCares and Interchurch Medical Assistance, donating more than $3 million and helping distribute both medicines and nutritional products. In Guatemala, the company donated antibiotics through its partner, Project HOPE. For Hurricane Katrina, Bristol-Myers Squibb donated $1.1 million in cash to the American Red Cross and more than $2 million in products through Direct Relief International, Project HOPE and AmeriCares. Additionally, Mead Johnson Nutritionals and ConvaTec gave nearly $1 million worth of product donations.