INDIANAPOLIS, May 3, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Eli Lilly and
Company (NYSE: LLY) today announced its support of Direct Relief's
Fund for Health Equity (the Fund) with a $5
million commitment over the next five years. The Fund
launched in March 2020 with
$75 million raised against a goal of
$150 million.
The $5 million commitment by Lilly
is a component of the company's Racial Justice Initiative, a robust
endeavor to deliver resources like education, health care, economic
stability and jobs within the communities where Lilly operates.
Direct Relief, a humanitarian organization, established the Fund
to improve health in underserved communities in the U.S. by
providing financial support to health centers, free and charitable
clinics and other community-based organizations and educational
institutions that focus on the social determinants that strongly
affect one's health, such as physical environment and social,
political, cultural and economic factors.
Through the Fund, and with the input of the Fund's Advisory
Council, Direct Relief will make strategic investments into the
work of safety-net providers delivering healthcare for patients of
racial and ethnic minority groups. These grant-funding investments
are aimed at bolstering the capacity of organizations to provide
high-quality, culturally appropriate healthcare, as well as focus
on the social determinants of health that can play a significant
role in poor health outcomes. Organizations can apply for grants
that will strengthen their work in:
- Leadership development to increase the number of healthcare
providers from diverse backgrounds.
- Preventive health strategies, including community-based
outreach, awareness and education programs for patients.
- Chronic disease care and management.
- Innovation and technology to expand patient access and improve
patient care.
- Community immunity rates, including COVID-19 and outreach,
education, testing and care.
"Lilly is committed to helping address systemic inequities in
health, including for those with non-communicable diseases such as
diabetes, that too often have devastating effects on the lives of
historically marginalized people," said David A. Ricks, Lilly chairman and CEO. "Our
support for the Fund for Health Equity will help empower rural and
urban local health organizations to leverage innovation and
relevant programming to overcome health disparities in their
communities."
"Direct Relief is deeply grateful for Lilly's substantial
commitment of funding that will make such a difference for
organizations that do important work every day to make health
equity a reality for people who suffer from its absence," said
Thomas Tighe, Direct Relief
President and CEO. "Lilly's action exemplifies the type of
recognition, engagement, commitment, and leadership that is needed
to change the chronic circumstances that prevent so many
people from overcoming illness, maintaining their health, and
realizing their full potential and enjoying the wonders that life
holds for each of us."
Engagement with the Fund for Health Equity is an extension of
Lilly's long-standing, and multi-faceted support of Direct Relief
to improve access to care for those most vulnerable. This includes
making COVID-19 therapies available in low- and middle-income
countries, as well as hurricane preparedness in the U.S.
Lilly's commitment also supports Lilly 30x30, the company's goal
to improve access to quality health care for 30 million people
living in settings with limited resources, each year, by 2030. To
learn more about Lilly's efforts, visit
https://www.lilly.com/impact/overview or join Lilly's
sustainability webcast on Tuesday, May
4.
About Direct Relief
Direct Relief is active in all 50
states and U.S. territories, with a mission to improve the health
and lives of people affected by poverty or emergencies – without
regard to politics, religion, or ability to pay. Direct Relief now
supports more than 1,500 nonprofit community health centers, free
and charitable clinics, public health departments, and other
safety-net organizations through the U.S., who in turn operate more
than 5,000 clinical sites and provide care to millions of
people.
About Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is a global health care leader that unites caring with
discovery to create medicines that make life better for people
around the world. We were founded more than a century ago by a man
committed to creating high-quality medicines that meet real needs,
and today we remain true to that mission in all our work. Across
the globe, Lilly employees work to discover and bring life-changing
medicines to those who need them, improve the understanding and
management of disease, and give back to communities through
philanthropy and volunteerism. To learn more about Lilly,
please visit us at www.lilly.com and www.lilly.com/news. CR-LLY
About Lilly's Commitment to Racial Justice
Lilly's
commitment to Direct Relief's Health Equity Fund is the latest step
in the company's Racial Justice Initiative. Other aims
include: expanding diversity in Lilly's clinical trials programs;
doubling Lilly's spend with diverse suppliers; joining forces with
major companies to hire, train and advance Black Americans into 1
million family-sustaining jobs through a partnership with the
OneTen coalition; making a $30
million limited partner investment in Unseen Capital Health
Fund LP, a venture fund intended to identify, fund and support
underrepresented founders of early-stage healthcare companies and
those building solutions for marginalized communities,
and building or strengthening existing community and national
partnerships to help drive social change.
About Lilly 30x30
Through investments in
people, medicines and health systems, we aim to improve
access to quality health care for 30 million people living in
limited resource settings annually by 2030. We call this
global effort Lilly 30x30. To achieve our goal, we have structured
Lilly 30x30 as a company-wide effort in strategic
collaboration with valued external partners. Lilly 30x30
initiatives include activities across three areas of impact:
pipeline, programs and partnerships. In each of these
areas, we are leading cross-functional teams to develop
high-impact, scalable projects and
solutions.
This press release contains forward-looking statements (as that
term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995). For further discussion of risks and uncertainties of the
company, see Lilly's most recent respective Form 10-K and Form 10-Q
filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
Except as required by law, Lilly undertakes no duty to update
forward-looking statements to reflect events after the date of this
release.
Refer to:
|
Molly
McCully; mccully_molly@lilly.com; 317-478-5423
(Media)
|
|
Kevin Hern;
hern_kevin_r@lilly.com; 317-277-1838 (Investors)
|
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SOURCE Eli Lilly and Company