Transatlantic Charitable Partnership Aims to Meet the Needs of People
Living with Cancer
DEERFIELD, Ill.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc. (Nasdaq: WBA) announced today the launch
of its Collaboration for Cancer Prevention, Research and Support, a
transatlantic charitable partnership between the company and leading
European, British and American cancer organizations to support people
living with cancer at all moments of their journey.
WBA gathered recently with leaders from the European Organisation for
Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Macmillan Cancer Support and
Susan G. Komen® as they officially launched the Collaboration and
committed to pursue joint projects with the goal of ensuring a future in
which patients have access to personalized care and support. The three
cancer organizations and WBA agreed to collaborate on initiatives to
develop and support innovative cancer research infrastructure and to
share best practices to improve patient care. WBA is committed to
facilitating these collaborative efforts, supporting their success
through fundraising and driving their impact through its pharmacy
locations, a common touchpoint for people with cancer.
Ornella Barra, WBA Co-Chief Operation Officer and the Chairman of the
company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, said: “As a global
health and wellbeing enterprise, WBA’s purpose is to help people live
healthier and happier lives, and we are committed to doing all we can to
support the fight against cancer. With our global health reach and broad
network of partners, we are uniquely positioned to act as convener as we
bring the best minds and organizations together to fight the
disease. With cancer being a leading cause of death worldwide, WBA is
accelerating and facilitating support for research and prevention, as
well as assistance for people living with cancer, their loved ones and
caregivers.”
More than 110,000 pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other health
care service providers and practitioners are among WBA’s more than
415,000* employees across the world. Its scale and accessible retail
pharmacy locations uniquely position the company to be a resource for
people living with cancer.
Community pharmacists around the world are well-trusted health care
professionals that patients turn to for information and expert support
when facing a cancer diagnosis and therapy. Pharmacists often dispense
crucial medication to cancer patients and provide advice on its use.
Through partnerships with cancer organizations WBA has been able to
expand its cancer care beyond the physical wellbeing of patients,
specially training its employees to also address the significant
emotional impacts of cancer.
The Collaboration builds on WBA’s innovative, ongoing partnerships with
the three cancer organizations.
-
In Europe, WBA and EORTC recently agreed to a five-year extension of
their partnership, supporting the expansion of EORTC’s pan-European
cancer research infrastructure SPECTA (Screening Cancer Patients for
Efficient Clinical Trial Access) to all types of cancer including rare
cancers. -
In the UK, Boots UK and Macmillan Cancer Support have worked together
for 10 years to provide expertise, information and support to those
living with or affected by cancer. More than 2,000 Boots Macmillan
Information Pharmacists and more than 800 Boots Macmillan Beauty
Advisors provide support in-store for people on how to help manage the
effects of cancer and its treatments. In just one year, these trained
pharmacists had over 92,000 conversations and the beauty advisors
delivered more than 44,500 beauty consultations, providing critical
help and advice to patients in the heart of their communities across
the UK. -
In the U.S., Walgreens and Susan G. Komen have a long history of
working together to provide support for people with breast cancer with
education, patient navigation, access to quality care and assistance
for people undergoing treatment. Most recently, Komen collaborated
with Walgreens on the launch of Feel More Like You, a program designed
to help people with cancer manage the physical and emotional side
effects of their treatment available through more than 3,000 Walgreens
stores.
*Includes equity method investments
Notes to Editors:
About Walgreens Boots Alliance
Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is the first global pharmacy-led,
health and wellbeing enterprise. The company’s heritage of trusted
health care services through community pharmacy care and pharmaceutical
wholesaling dates back more than 100 years.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is the largest retail pharmacy, health and
daily living destination across the U.S. and Europe. Walgreens Boots
Alliance and the companies in which it has equity method investments
together have a presence in more than 25 countries and employ more than
415,000 people. The company is a global leader in pharmacy-led, health
and wellbeing retail and, together with its equity method investments,
has more than 18,500 stores in 11 countries as well as one of the
largest global pharmaceutical wholesale and distribution networks, with
more than 390 distribution centers delivering to more than 230,000
pharmacies, doctors, health centers and hospitals each year in more than
20 countries. In addition, Walgreens Boots Alliance is one of the
world’s largest purchasers of prescription drugs and many other health
and wellbeing products.
The company’s portfolio of retail and business brands includes
Walgreens, Duane Reade, Boots and Alliance Healthcare, as well as
increasingly global health and beauty product brands, such as No7, Soap
& Glory, Liz Earle, Sleek MakeUP and Botanics.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is proud to be a force for good, leveraging
many decades of experience and its international scale, to care for
people and the planet through numerous social responsibility and
sustainability initiatives that have an impact on the health and
wellbeing of millions of people.
Walgreens Boots Alliance is included in Fortune magazine’s 2019 list of
the World’s Most Admired Companies and ranked first in the food and
drugstore category. This is the 26th consecutive year that Walgreens
Boots Alliance or its predecessor company, Walgreen Co., has been named
to the list.
More company information is available at www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.
About EORTC (European Organisation for Research and Treatment of
Cancer)
EORTC is a unique pan-European clinical cancer research organization
established in 1962 operating as an international nonprofit association.
It develops, conducts, coordinates and stimulates high-quality
translational and clinical trial research to improve the survival and
quality of life of cancer patients. EORTC research network consists of
over 5,300 researchers and doctors from all disciplines involved in
cancer treatment and research in more than 930 university hospitals in
37 countries. Its research spans the entire spectrum from translational
and preclinical research to large, prospective, multi-center, phase III
clinical trials that evaluate new cancer therapies and/or treatment
strategies as well as patient quality of life. Today, EORTC has 213
ongoing studies, 27,000 patients in follow-up and outcome data from over
200,000 cancer patients that form EORTC’s clinical study database. For
further information, please visit the EORTC website: www.eortc.org.
About Macmillan Cancer Support
Macmillan Cancer Support is the UK’s leading cancer supporter charity,
giving personal, one to one support and care to thousands of people
every day. Funded almost entirely through donations, Macmillan is there
to help everyone in the UK with cancer live life as fully as they can,
providing expert information and physical, financial and emotional
support. So whatever cancer throws your way, Macmillan is right there
with you.
About Susan G. Komen
Susan G. Komen is the world’s largest breast cancer organization,
funding more breast cancer research than any other nonprofit outside of
the U.S. government while providing real-time help to those facing the
disease. Komen has set a Bold Goal to reduce the current number of
breast cancer deaths by 50 percent in the U.S. by 2026. Since its
founding in 1982, Komen has funded more than $988 million in research
and provided more than $2.2 billion in funding to screening, education,
treatment and psychosocial support programs serving millions of people
in more than 60 countries worldwide. Visit komen.org or connect with us
on social at ww5.komen.org/social.
(WBA-GEN)
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