Cardinal Health, AmeriCares Collaborate to Battle Ebola Outbreak

PRESS RELEASE

Stamford, Conn. — Oct. 14, 2014 – Cardinal Health recently donated more than 1 million products to AmeriCares Emergency Response Program to help contain the deadly Ebola outbreak in West Africa. The company, a leading manufacturer of medical and surgical products headquartered in Dublin, Ohio, recently donated more than 500,000 protective masks, nearly 100,000 gowns, 76,000 biohazard bags and 21,000 protective shoe covers for frontline health workers fighting the epidemic.

AmeriCares has delivered eight shipments to Liberia and Sierra Leone valued at more than $1 million in response to the Ebola outbreak — the worst in history. More aid deliveries are planned in the coming weeks.

“Health workers in West Africa risk their lives every day just by going to work,” said AmeriCares President and CEO Michael J. Nyenhuis. “Thanks to Cardinal Health, we can help protect doctors and nurses on the front lines of the epidemic from infection.”

The World Health Organization reports more than 4,000 people have died from the outbreak, including more than 200 health workers. As many as 1.4 million people in Liberia and Sierra Leone could become infected by January, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned, if more isn’t done to stop the spread of the disease.

“As a company with concerns for the health and well-being of people around the world, we’re proud to be able to support international relief efforts in this way,” said Mike Duffy, president, Medical Products at Cardinal Health, “and we’re glad to have a long-standing affiliation with organizations like AmeriCares that are able to quickly deploy products to the places they’re needed most.”

AmeriCares has been aiding survivors of natural disasters, disease outbreaks, political conflict and extreme poverty around the world for more than 30 years, saving lives and restoring health and hope. The organization’s relief workers are among the first to respond to emergencies and stay as long as needed, helping to restore health services for survivors.

Cardinal Health has supported AmeriCares emergency response work and global health programs for 18 years, and its donations to charitable organizations like AmeriCares average more than $9 million annually. AmeriCares has delivered Cardinal Health products to survivors of the 2004 Southeast Asia tsunami, Hurricane Katrina, the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami, among other emergencies.