Company Continues Progress on Reducing Carbon
Footprint
Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) today announced the
publication of its 2019 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
Report, which details the company’s global sustainability
initiatives, including efforts to improve access to quality
healthcare, deliver support programs for people living with cancer
and reduce its carbon footprint.
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the full release here:
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Walgreens stores sponsored more than
1,800 health fairs in local communities where they provided flu
clinics, diabetes screening and information on opioid safety and
drug takeback during fiscal year ending August 31, 2019. (Photo:
Business Wire)
“Our purpose at WBA is to help people live healthier and happier
lives,” said Ornella Barra, WBA’s co-chief operating officer and
the chairman of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility
Committee. “Everyone deserves the opportunity to fulfill his or her
potential, regardless of where one lives. That’s why we mobilize
our incredible employees and invest resources in issues that impact
our patients, customers and society. We believe in our ability to
effect positive change in communities around the world.”
WBA is a leading global pharmacy retailer and wholesaler,
present in 25 countries, including equity method investments. The
company includes Boots UK, Boots Ireland, Alliance Healthcare and
Walgreens and reaches millions of customers and patients through
its retail pharmacy businesses every day.
Highlights from this year’s report include:
Expansion of In-Store Support for
People Living with Cancer
For the past 20 years, Walgreens Boots Alliance and its
businesses has sought to create innovative and meaningful support
for cancer patients and their loved ones.
For more than 10 years, Boots UK and Macmillan Cancer Support,
one of the largest British charities, have worked together to train
beauty consultants and pharmacists to deliver in-store advice to
patients and customers on managing physical and emotional side
effects of cancer and cancer treatments.
Following the UK in-store model, in March 2019, Walgreens
launched Feel More Like You™ which also positions trained beauty
consultants and pharmacists to advise and support people with
cancer at more than 3,000 U.S. locations.
“The experience of cancer can be incredibly lonely,” said
Jonathan, a cancer survivor. “Being able to talk with a Boots
pharmacist who understood what I was going through and could give
me advice on how to manage my physical and emotional side effects
helped me feel less lonely and gave me the confidence to tackle my
diagnosis head on.”
Life-Changing Vitamins to More Than 200
Million Women and Children
In addition to addressing cancer, WBA has also dedicated efforts
to improving healthcare in communities around the world.
Six years ago, Walgreens and nonprofit Vitamin Angels teamed up
to improve maternal and child health around the world. To date, the
partners have provided vitamins to more than 200 million women and
children around the world.
The charitable partnership works in two ways: For every customer
purchase of vitamins from select suppliers, Walgreens donates one
percent of sales to Vitamin Angels’ outreach efforts across the
U.S. and globally. Additionally, for the past two years, Walgreens
‘Quarter Drive’ customer donation campaign in January has raised
more than $3 million for the Vitamin Angels’ mission.
“You cannot underestimate the impact of Walgreens partnership
with Vitamin Angels,” said Dr. Nikhil Harikrishnan, MPH, Vitamin
Angels program manager in Asia. “I have seen first-hand what a
small intervention like a prenatal vitamin or vitamin A can do. We
are literally changing lives, and that’s why the 200 million women
and children impacted by our partnership is so incredible.”
Waste Reduction and First-of-its-Kind
Sustainable Shopping Experience
The new CSR report also details efforts across WBA businesses to
reduce energy consumption, cut the amount of waste that goes to
landfill and empower employees and customers to adopt
environmentally friendly actions.
In July 2019, Boots UK launched its flagship Covent Garden
store, a first-of-its-kind retail environment. The store features a
water station where customers can refill their reusable water
bottles and a refilling station for products such as shampoo. All
Boots UK stores are also eliminating single-use plastic bags in
favor of unbleached paper bags, a continuation of Boots journey to
reduce plastic use across its business.
“In building the Covent Garden store, we wanted to design the
Boots retail experience of the future, one built with
sustainability front of mind,” said Sebastian James, managing
director of Boots UK and Republic of Ireland. “As a global
business, we view sustainability holistically, from our supply
chain to the in-store experience we deliver for customers. It’s all
connected to our desire to operate as a responsible and
best-in-class company.”
The WBA 2019 CSR Report was prepared in accordance with the GRI
Standards: Core option, which are the world’s most widely used set
of sustainability reporting standards.
You can read more about WBA’s Corporate Social Responsibility
efforts here.
About Walgreens Boots Alliance (WBA)
Walgreens Boots Alliance (Nasdaq: WBA) is a global leader in
retail and wholesale pharmacy, touching millions of lives every day
through dispensing and distributing medicines, its convenient
retail locations, digital platforms and health and beauty products.
The company has more than 100 years of trusted health care heritage
and innovation in community pharmacy and pharmaceutical
wholesaling.
Including equity method investments, WBA has a presence in more
than 25 countries, employs more than 440,000 people and has more
than 18,750 stores.
WBA’s purpose is to help people across the world lead healthier
and happier lives. The company is proud of its contributions to
healthy communities, a healthy planet, an inclusive workplace and a
sustainable marketplace. The company’s businesses have been
recognized for their Corporate Social Responsibility. Walgreens was
named to FORTUNE* magazine’s 2019 Companies that Change the World
list and Boots UK was recognized as Responsible Business of the
Year 2019-2020 by Business in the Community. WBA is included in
FORTUNE’s 2020 list of the World’s Most Admired Companies. This is
the 27th consecutive year that WBA or its predecessor company,
Walgreen Co., has been named to the list.
More company information is available at
www.walgreensbootsalliance.com.
*© 2019, Fortune Media IP Limited. Used under license.
(WBA-GEN)
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: All
statements in this release and related CSR report that are not
historical, including program goals, the expected execution and
effect of our Corporate Social Responsibility strategies and
initiatives and the amounts and timing of their expected impact,
are forward-looking statements made pursuant to the safe harbor
provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future
performance and involve risks, assumptions and uncertainties, known
or unknown, including those described in Item 1A (Risk Factors) of
Walgreens Boots Alliance’s Form 10-K for the fiscal year that ended
August 31, 2019 and in other documents that Walgreens Boots
Alliance files or furnishes with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties
materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect,
actual results may vary materially. These forward-looking
statements speak only as of the date they are made. Except to the
extent required by law, Walgreens Boots Alliance does not
undertake, and expressly disclaims, any duty or obligation to
update publicly any forward-looking statement after the date of
this release, whether as a result of new information, future
events, changes in assumptions or otherwise.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200211005125/en/
Media Relations USA / Pamela Morris
pamela.morris@walgreens.com +1 224 419 0375
Investor Relations Gerald Gradwell and Jay Spitzer +1 847
315 2922
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