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DEERFIELD, Ill. — Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA) announced today the launch of its Collaboration for Cancer Prevention, Research and Support, a transatlantic charitable partnership between the company and leading European, British and American cancer organizations to support people living with cancer at all moments of their journey.
Ornella Barra
WBA gathered recently with leaders from the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), Macmillan Cancer Support and Susan G. Komen as they officially launched the Collaboration and committed to pursue joint projects with the goal of ensuring a future in which patients have access to personalized care and support. The three cancer organizations and WBA agreed to collaborate on initiatives to develop and support innovative cancer research infrastructure and to share best practices to improve patient care. WBA is committed to facilitating these collaborative efforts, supporting their success through fundraising and driving their impact through its pharmacy locations, a common touchpoint for people with cancer.
Ornella Barra, WBA co-chief operation officer and the chairman of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility Committee, said: “As a global health and wellbeing enterprise, WBA’s purpose is to help people live healthier and happier lives, and we are committed to doing all we can to support the fight against cancer. With our global health reach and broad network of partners, we are uniquely positioned to act as convener as we bring the best minds and organizations together to fight the disease. With cancer being a leading cause of death worldwide, WBA is accelerating and facilitating support for research and prevention, as well as assistance for people living with cancer, their loved ones and caregivers.”
More than 110,000 pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and other health care service providers and practitioners are among WBA’s more than 415,000 employees across the world. Its scale and accessible retail pharmacy locations uniquely position the company to be a resource for people living with cancer.
Community pharmacists around the world are well-trusted health care professionals that patients turn to for information and expert support when facing a cancer diagnosis and therapy. Pharmacists often dispense crucial medication to cancer patients and provide advice on its use. Through partnerships with cancer organizations WBA has been able to expand its cancer care beyond the physical wellbeing of patients, specially training its employees to also address the significant emotional impacts of cancer.
The Collaboration builds on WBA’s innovative, ongoing partnerships with the three cancer organizations.
- In Europe, WBA and EORTC recently agreed to a five-year extension of their partnership, supporting the expansion of EORTC’s pan-European cancer research infrastructure SPECTA (Screening Cancer Patients for Efficient Clinical Trial Access) to all types of cancer including rare cancers.
- In the UK, Boots UK and Macmillan Cancer Support have worked together for 10 years to provide expertise, information and support to those living with or affected by cancer. More than 2,000 Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacists and more than 800 Boots Macmillan Beauty Advisors provide support in-store for people on how to help manage the effects of cancer and its treatments. In just one year, these trained pharmacists had over 92,000 conversations and the beauty advisors delivered more than 44,500 beauty consultations, providing critical help and advice to patients in the heart of their communities across the UK.
- In the U.S., Walgreens and Susan G. Komen have a long history of working together to provide support for people with breast cancer with education, patient navigation, access to quality care and assistance for people undergoing treatment. Most recently, Komen collaborated with Walgreens on the launch of Feel More Like You, a program designed to help people with cancer manage the physical and emotional side effects of their treatment available through more than 3,000 Walgreens stores.
