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July 12, 2010

CT health firms among Haiti donors

Drug and medical product makers and other health care companies, including Aetna, Cigna, Pfizer and UnitedHealth that have Connecticut operations, have pledged to donate more than $66 million in cash and products to help victims of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated the island of Haiti early this year, The Associated Press reports.

The charitable alliance Partnership for Quality Medical Donations, or PQMD, says that amounts to 45 percent of the roughly $148 million in corporate-driven aid that has been donated in the past six months to benefit Haiti relief efforts. That's also quadruple the $15.5 million in cash and equipment that the health industry pledged in the days just following the Jan. 12 disaster.

"By having the right medical supplies in the right place, administered by the right people, we have helped to alleviate some of the suffering and, ultimately, saved thousands of lives," said Myron Aldrink, chair of PQMD and executive director of Medical Teams International's Western Michigan office.

Among the many companies donating to the effort has been Swiss eye care products maker Alcon Laboratories, which donated more than $3 million worth of items such as eye drops to fight infection. Medical device maker Becton, Dickinson and Co. boosted its donations from $500,000 at Jan. 15 to $5 million worth of equipment such as I.V. catheters, needles and syringes. Hospira Inc. has donated more than $1.5 million in antibiotics, intravenous (I.V.) solutions and painkillers.

Other major donors have included: biotech company Amgen Inc., medical supplier Henry Schein, drug store chains Walgreen Co. and Rite Aid Corp. and drugmakers Pfizer Inc., Merck & Co., GlaxoSmithKline PLC, Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. and Eli Lilly & Co. Health insurers such as UnitedHealth Group Inc., Humana Inc., Cigna Corp. and Aetna Inc. also donated to the effort, including paying for some medical evacuations.

Members have sent orthopedic supplies to help care for numerous crush injuries, as well as clean water and hygiene kits, vaccines, and pediatric fluids. Others are providing training to develop in-country biomedical technicians.

But with more than one million people still living in makeshift tent cities as the Atlantic hurricane season looms, PQMD members say ongoing aid is crucial to Haiti's recovery.

"It's important to remember that the road to recovery will be long," says Pan American Health Organization Director Dr. Mirta Roses. "There will need to be ongoing assistance from international donors to help meet the massive humanitarian health needs that continue to exist."

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