Product Donations

In 2008, we donated $135 million in pharmaceutical and nutrition products to assist humanitarian programs, medical missions and responses to natural disasters around the world. Our medical missions more than doubled in number, to 3,366.

As part of our global HIV/AIDS strategy, we provide rapid HIV tests at no profit to any organization, providing quality voluntary HIV counseling and testing (VCT) services in 69 countries, including all of Africa and the world’s least developed countries. With rapid HIV testing, any hospital or program in a remote setting can obtain results regardless of access to laboratory equipment or electricity. To date, Abbott has shipped more than 70 million rapid HIV tests across Africa at no profit. In 2008, we donated 100 million rapid HIV tests to Tanzania.

We are the only company that donates rapid HIV tests to prevent mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in 69 countries. Enabling pregnant women to learn their HIV status is a critical step in achieving prevention. To date, we have donated more than 11 million rapid HIV tests to PMTCT programs across Africa.

We updated our product donation policy and implemented higher standards concerning the types of products available for donation, product quality and integrity. We also improved our procedures regarding process flow, documentation and tracking of donations. As part of the process, we conducted on-site assessments of several of our existing and potential new relief partners to ensure that we work only with those implementing the highest standards of operating procedure, including warehouse storage and inventory management, product distribution and tracking systems, and in-country partner criteria. The new policy significantly raises the level of cohesion and consistency across Abbott, promoting efficiency and accountability throughout the donation process.

Product Donations Policy

We remain an active member of the Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD), a group of nongovernmental organizations and pharmaceutical and medical supply manufacturers dedicated to the development, dissemination and adherence to high standards in the delivery of medical products to underserved people and disaster victims around the world. Abbott also complies with the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for pharmaceutical donations. Both the PQMD and the WHO work to establish and ensure the highest standards for product donations and compliance.

Strategic Approach to Disasters

Abbott takes a comprehensive approach to disasters, reflected in our strategy that integrates both long-term solutions, which strengthen local partner capacity to respond to and recover from disasters, and short-term solutions that ensure appropriate response at the time a disaster strikes.

Throughout the year, Abbott distributes regular shipments of nutrition products across the country through a partnership with Feeding America – the largest network of foodbanks in the United States. Similarly, our partnership with Direct Relief International helps support the local capacity of health systems, providing services to low-income patients by distributing medical products through nationwide networks of free clinics. In 2008, over $12 million worth of Abbott products were distributed through foodbanks and health clinics nationwide. In addition to the ongoing support, we work with our partners in preparation for hurricane season by prepositioning $1 million worth of products in food banks and health clinics in high-risk areas located across the East and Gulf coasts and the Caribbean, and fulfill specific requests from our warehouses as needs arise.

The initiatives with Feeding America and Direct Relief International tap into well-established, community-based networks, strengthening the capacity of local partners that play a critical role in disaster response. As a consequence, these local partners are better equipped both to respond to and to recover from disasters by ensuring that product is readily available at the time of a disaster and that it continues to be distributed throughout the year.