During Heart to Heart International’s recent visit with a community pharmacy in Honduras, a local woman described knocking on the door at 2 a.m. to get medicine for her sick child. The local community member in charge of the pharmacy helped her, which meant the mother didn’t have to walk all night to the nearest clinic.
Community pharmacy in remote area of Honduras
This small, rural pharmacy was able to supply a sick child with medications in part because of Heart to Heart International (HHI) and partners like Teva Pharmaceuticals. Teva first partnered with HHI 20 years ago in 2002 and continues to provide invaluable support.
As a global leader in providing generic medications to people in need all over the world, Teva is one of the top medication suppliers for the World Health Organization (WHO) Essential Medicines List (EML).
Teva’s first donation of medicine and supplies in 2002 was an incredibly generous $1.58 million. Medicines and supplies donated over the last 20 years now total $152.5 million.
In February 2022, HHI sent a shipment of medications donated by Teva to our partner’s warehouse in Siguatepeque, Honduras. This shipment was distributed to a network of 421 community pharmacies within walking distance of 2,000 villages. That means these medications have the potential to help 140,000 people in rural populations, giving them access to quality basic health services. The community pharmacies charge only a small fee to access medications, and Teva’s donated supplies help the community pharmacies keep costs low and allow them to restock products that are not donated.
“Expanding access to medicines is core to our mission,” said Carol Richardson, ESG Lead for Teva in North America. “We are proud of our long-standing partnership with HHI to help support underserved communities round the world and get medicines to those in need.”
Teva’s commitment to advancing health and equity includes not only product donations, but also employee volunteer opportunities. Teva employees at the United States headquarters in Parsippany NJ recently assembled 1800 personal hygiene kits for HHI in February 2022.
Teva employees helping assemble hygiene kits.
“We’re thankful for our longstanding partnership with Teva. It is because of partners like this that Heart to Heart International is able to focus on its mission of improving access to health in under-resourced communities throughout the world,” said Kim Carroll, CEO of Heart to Heart International.
HHI and Teva have a long history of working together for the greater good, and we look forward to many more years of strengthening this partnership.