NCC receives $25,000 grant award from Hospira Foundation to support pharmaceutical relief program

May 24 2010

The National Cancer Coalition (NCC) is pleased to announce that it recently received a $25,000 grant award from the Hospira Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Hospira, Inc., to support its pharmaceutical relief program within the Dominican Republic. NCC is seeking to significantly increase the levels of medical resources that it provides to the public hospitals of the Dominican Republic in an effort to more fully treat the country's underserved patients, and this grant will contribute toward achieving that goal.

"Hospira is dedicated to advancing wellness, and the National Cancer Coalition's medical relief programs provide access to much-needed medicines and technologies for patients who would otherwise go without. We are especially proud to assist communities in which our employees work and live, and we have a strong, dedicated workforce in the Dominican Republic," said Stacey T. Eisen, vice president, Global Public Affairs, and vice president, Hospira Foundation.

Robert B. Landry, III, President of NCC commented, "The National Cancer Coalition is thrilled to receive this financial support from the Hospira Foundation." He added, "We are especially pleased with our working relationship with Hospira, a global manufacturer of specialty injectable pharmaceuticals and medical products, over the past few years and the impact realized for underserved patients with cancer and other life-threatening diseases."  NCC, a non-governmental organization (NGO), has provided the Dominican Republic with requested medicines valued at over $100 million during the past 10 years.

Hospira's donations of the colorectal cancer medicine irinotecan HCI have allowed NCC to provide access to this important drug to public hospitals that assist the underserved in the developing world.  The benefiting public hospitals that have received this cancer medicine were located in: Ghana, Tanzania, Moldova, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, and the Philippines.  These donations have provided hundreds of poor cancer patients access to this vital chemotherapy.