AmeriCares Honors GlaxoSmithKline with Power of Partnership Award

STAMFORD, Conn., June 11, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/-- AmeriCares has presented its annual Power of Partnership Award to GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) in recognition of the company's outstanding commitment to aiding disaster survivors and increasing access to health care around the world. GSK consistently supports AmeriCares with donated medicines, including a remarkable Produce to Give program that allows the aid organization to select $4 million worth of the most critically needed health care products each year for people in need in the developing world.

AmeriCares President and CEO Curt Welling presented the award today at the Healthcare Distribution Management Association's (HDMA) Business & Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas. AmeriCares and HDMA created the Power of Partnership Award to recognize medical manufacturing and distribution organizations that have shown exceptional dedication to expanding access to health care for disadvantaged populations.

"GSK is one of our top donors, in both the quantity and quality of the aid they donate," Welling said. "By offering our medical experts a choice of medicines, GSK meets some of the most pressing health needs in the world and helps us make a profound difference in the lives of those who need assistance most."

Since 1989, GSK has partnered with AmeriCares to provide more than $168 million worth of medicines to people in need in 120 countries. The company's product donations also support AmeriCares Emergency Pharmacy, a stock of prepositioned medicines and supplies ready to be immediately deployed after a disaster. GSK supported AmeriCares disaster relief efforts with a $252,000 grant to build a water treatment plant for survivors of the 2009 earthquake in Indonesia. GSK employees have a long history of volunteering with AmeriCares in the U.S. and India through the company's three-to-six-month immersion volunteer program PULSE.

"HDMA congratulates GSK on this award, which honors the company's efforts to improve health worldwide," said HDMA President and CEO John M. Gray. "We are pleased to partner with AmeriCares in recognizing GSK's remarkable commitment and achievement."

About AmeriCares
AmeriCares is a nonprofit global health and disaster relief organization that delivers medicines, medical supplies and aid to people in need around the world and across the United States. Since it was established in 1982, AmeriCares has distributed more than $10 billion in humanitarian aid to 164 countries. For more information, visit americares.org

About HDMA
HDMA is the national association representing primary healthcare distributors, the vital link between the nation's pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers. Each business day, HDMA member companies ensure that nearly nine million prescription medicines and healthcare products are delivered safely and efficiently to nearly 200,000 pharmacies, hospitals, long-term care facilities, clinics and others nationwide. HDMA and its members work daily to provide value and achieve cost savings, an estimated $42 billion each year to our nation's healthcare system. For more information, visit www.HealthcareDistribution.org.

About GlaxoSmithKline
GlaxoSmithKline – one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies – is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.  For further information go to us.gsk.com, follow us on twitter.com/GSKUS or visit our blog (www.morethanmedicine.us.gsk.com/blog/).

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Donna Porstner: (203) 658-9579
[email protected]

Leslie Gianelli (203) 658-9692
[email protected]

SOURCE AmeriCares