Our humanitarian response response to the Ebola outbreak

GSK has contributed to the overall humanitarian effort and on-going efforts to strengthen healthcare infrastructure in the most affected countries.

GSK has contributed to the overall humanitarian effort and on-going efforts to strengthen healthcare infrastructure in the most affected countries. 

Since the escalation of the outbreak in March 2014, we have donated over £433,000 in cash contributions for the three countries most affected. This included funding for Save the Children to enable them to continue and scale up their work, supporting those affected and working with healthcare workers to reduce the spread of the virus. It also included donations to AmeriCares and Direct Relief, that were used to cover the cost of purchasing and delivering personal protective equipment (PPE) for front line healthcare workers.  An additional contribution by GSK enabled five healthcare practitioners to participate in an Ebola training course, led by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the USA, designed to prepare them for working safely in Ebola Treatment Units in west Africa.

Alongside this, we significantly increased our medicine donations. We donated supplies of GSK product for Sierra Leone and Liberia valued at over £740,000 to our partners AmeriCares, Project HOPE and Direct Relief.  These shipments included antibiotics that were used to help patients who are vulnerable to infections within the Ebola-affected regions of Liberia and Sierra Leone as well as helping to restock hospitals and clinics. 

We continue to work closely with partners on the ground and will provide further assistance to help these affected coutries to rebuild their damaged healthcare infrastructures. 

During times of emergency, we work in partnership with non-profit organisations and relief charities to donate our products where they are needed, according to WHO guidelines. Read more about our humanitarian support for communities. 

Save the Children and GSK have been working together for many years on a number of public health projects, including GSK’s initiative to reinvest 20% of the profits it makes in least-developed-countries in community programmes to strengthen healthcare infrastructure, primarily through the training of frontline health workers