Abbott Laboratories Donates Products and Supplies to Aid Relief Efforts

ABBOTT PARK, Ill. -- Abbott Laboratories has sent cases of hospital, pharmaceutical and nutritional products valued at $2.1 million to AmeriCares, a not-for-profit humanitarian aid organization, to aid thousands of those who were affected by the war with Iraq.

Initial relief efforts were coordinated in Turkey with the Turkish Ministry of Health and the Red Crescent Society. Another 15,000 pounds of emergency relief is stockpiled in Jordan for shipment to Baghdad at a later date. The relief supplies include antibiotics such as Biaxin(R), children's vitamins, hospital products like IV solutions and bags, and both pediatric and adult nutritional products such as Ensure and Isomil.

"Abbott Laboratories has once again demonstrated its commitment to providing assistance in a time of need," said Curtis R. Welling, president and chief executive officer of AmeriCares. "Abbott's contributions of pharmaceuticals, vitamins and nutritionals are a critical part of our humanitarian relief efforts in response to the crisis in Iraq."

AmeriCares, the humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization, has delivered 40,000 pounds of urgently needed medicine and supplies into Iraq from Silopi, Turkey. The truckloads of aid crossed the border at the Habur Gate on Sunday, April 19. AmeriCares is one of the first U.S.-based non- governmental organizations to deliver medical relief into Iraq since the onset of the war. In cooperation with AmeriCares' in-country partner, the Turkmeneli Foundation, the relief materials in Kirkuk, a city formerly under the control of Saddam Hussein, are to be distributed among three hospitals: Kirkuk General Hospital, the largest hospital in the city and formerly known as the Saddam Hospital; Kirkuk Maternity Hospital; and the Al-Jumhuriyah Hospital.

"The devastating ramifications of war leave thousands of people in desperate need of medical and nutritional supplies," said Cindy Schwab, vice president of the Abbott Laboratories Fund. "Abbott has always been committed to helping people around the world, and we will continue to lend our support to respond to the needs of the region with the assistance of our relief partners."

Through partnerships with health and human service organizations, Abbott has donated a broad range of products to help alleviate human suffering through on-going health care programs and emergency disaster response. On September 11, 2001, Abbott donated $2 million to support emergency assistance for victims and families during the national crisis. Abbott has supported disaster relief efforts for victims of the Mozambique and Cambodia floods, the famine in Ethiopia, and the Dengue fever outbreak in El Salvador, among others.

Abbott Laboratories is a global, broad-based healthcare company devoted to the discovery, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals, nutritionals and medical products, including devices and diagnostics. The company employs more than 70,000 people and markets its products in more than 130 countries.

Source: Abbott Laboratories