Becton, Dickinson & Co. (NYSE:BDX) is boosting its contribution to the Haitian earthquake relief effort tenfold, after humanitarian aid groups relayed the desperate need for more medical supplies to treat the millions of people affected by the magnitude 7.0 temblor.
BD originally pledged to provide $500,000 worth of of medical equipment for the relief effort. But after receiving pleas from on-the-ground relief providers, the Franklin Lakes, N.J.-based company decided to up that amount to $5 million worth of supplies.
That’s on top of the $550,000 in cash BD already pledged to split between Partners in Health, the American Red Cross, the U.S. Fund for UNICEF, AmeriCares, the Catholic Medical Mission Board, Direct Relief International, Heart to Heart International, Project HOPE and Save the Children.
The corporate world is lining up to help the relief effort as it struggles to cope with the onset of complications like infection and sepsis amid short supplies of medical products, food and water. In addition to BD, the long list of corporate donors includes Kinetic Concepts Inc. (NYSE:KCI), ConvaTec, Smith & Nephew (NYSE:SNN), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Henry Schein Inc. (NSDQ:HSIC), Baxter International Inc. (NYSE:BAX) and Medtronic Inc. (NYSE:MDT).
MassDevice urges readers to join us in contributing to the relief efforts underway in Haiti. To make a donation to our friends at Partners in Health, please click here.
