Henry Schein and UPS Join with CDC Foundation To Help CDC Combat Ebola Epidemic
A host of needs have been identified to help address the unprecedented Ebola epidemic in West Africa. One vital need is personal protective equipment (PPE) such as gloves, masks and gowns, for use by public health workers and others involved in the on-the-ground response to the epidemic in the most-impacted countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone. To help address this need, the CDC Foundation today announced a public-private partnership with Henry Schein, Inc. and UPS to provide and direct the transport of PPE to West Africa to aid in CDC’s response efforts.
Through the donation to the CDC Foundation, health workers and airport screeners in West Africa will receive PPE shipments that include approximately 80,000 pairs of protective gloves, 18,000 protective masks and 14,000 gowns. The PPE donation was made by Henry Schein, the world’s largest provider of health care products and services to office-based practitioners. The PPE shipping is being managed by UPS, a global leader in logistics.
“We thank Henry Schein and UPS for their generous in-kind contributions to support CDC’s work in West Africa,” said Charles Stokes, president and CEO of the CDC Foundation. “It is vital for health care workers and responders to have the protection they need to do their jobs, and these donations will help in protecting the men and women who are working in this region in response to the Ebola epidemic.”
According to the latest CDC information, there are more than 8,400 suspected and confirmed cases of individuals stricken by the virus, making the 2014 Ebola outbreak the largest in history and the first in West Africa. Of those, more than 4,000 have died. CDC has deployed more than 155 public health experts to West Africa with plans to send additional personnel to the affected countries to expand current response activities.
“We applaud CDC and its team in West Africa for their extraordinary effort to confront the Ebola crisis, and it is our privilege to help these public health professionals in any way we can in their heroic work,” said Stanley Bergman, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of Henry Schein. “The in-kind support by our valued logistics partner UPS will help medical workers so they can carry on the fight against this virus, for the benefit of the people of West Africa and the world. While we have made this initial donation, we also have let CDC know that we are committed to providing continuing support to this critical response effort.”
“We know that PPE is a real need, and we are pleased to join with Henry Schein to coordinate transportation of these critical supplies to CDC staff and other aid workers in West Africa so that they can do the work of saving lives,” said Mitch Nichols, senior vice president, UPS transportation and engineering.
To strengthen the response going forward, the CDC Foundation will continue to work with donors to provide much-needed supplies and equipment for use on the ground in West Africa. These include equipping of community care centers, employment and training of local staff, generators, vehicles to be used for specimen transport, Ebola case identification, transport and contact tracing, burial support, and translation services and communications, all vital to health care system strengthening.
Individual or corporate contributions to the CDC Foundation’s Global Disaster Response Fund can be made on the CDC Foundation’s website (www.cdcfoundation.org/ebola-outbreak) or by phone, fax or mail. To discuss giving opportunities or an in-kind donation, contact the CDC Foundation at 1-888-880-4CDC.