KENYA – The Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly), a global healthcare leader, has continually supported the admirable efforts of the Academic Model Providing Access to Healthcare (AMPATH) efforts to provide life-saving medications to cancer, diabetes, and mentally ill patients in Western Kenya.
This month, with the support of the Indiana University School of Medicine, they once again sent a shipment of medicines including chemotherapy, insulin, and mental health medicines worth US$31 million to the institution based in Eldoret, Kenya.
Since 2002, Lilly has donated nearly US$246 million in medicines to AMPATH to improve the health of the people in the Moi Teaching Referral Hospital (MTRH) catchment area that serves more than 25 million.
Indiana University President Pamela Whittmen said that the University and Lilly share a mission to use research and scientific discovery to improve the lives of people in Indiana and beyond.
President Whittmen added, “Lilly’s support enables IU School of Medicine physicians and trainees and their Kenyan colleagues to provide world-class treatment for some of the most prevalent diseases in Kenya and around the world,”
IU leads the AMPATH Consortium of 15 universities around the world that partner with MTRH and Moi University in Kenya to improve health and well-being for people in underserved communities.
Based on the successful partnership model in Kenya, AMPATH has recently formed new partnerships in Ghana, Mexico, and Nepal supported by the Consortium.
Leigh Ann Pusey, executive vice president of corporate affairs and communications at Lilly said, “Lilly is grateful for AMPATH’s work to help improve the health and wellbeing of people living with often treatable diseases in Kenya.”
Pusey added that Lilly’s support of this program in Kenya over the last two decades was part of the company’s goal to provide improved access to quality health care for 30 million people in resource-limited settings, annually, by 2030.
In addition to product, Lilly and the Lilly Foundation have separately provided philanthropic support related to several AMPATH care initiatives and the AMPATH partnerships in Ghana and Mexico.
The company also sponsors a skills-based program for its employees to lend their expertise to the partnership through a program called Connecting Hearts Abroad and will have a group visiting AMPATH in Kenya later this year.
MTRH CEO Dr. Wilson K. Aruasa, MBS, EBS said, “I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Lilly and the Lilly Foundation for their long-standing support in the fight against noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), a major cause of disability and death globally.”
Dr. Aruasa added that Lilly’s long-term generosity to AMPATH had been instrumental in furthering the mission of the IU School of Medicine to improve health around the world, particularly in resource-limited places such as Kenya.
In addition to supporting care delivery, the AMPATH mission also includes education and research.
More than 2,200 medical trainees from partner institutions have participated in educational exchanges.
AMPATH-affiliated research by Kenyan and consortium investigators has received more than US$210 million in funding to address challenges related to HIV, cancer, chronic diseases, and a myriad of other healthcare issues.
“We cherish the support extended to us by our long-time partners, Lilly and The Lilly Foundation, in alleviating the suffering of our patients. These efforts spearheaded by the AMPATH partnership have resulted in an integrated healthcare system,” Dr. Aruasa affirmed.
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