At McKesson Europe, more than 38,000 colleagues work in 13 countries speaking 10 different languages, serving over 2 million customers. With 118 wholesale branches in Europe, McKesson Europe supplies more than 58,000 pharmacies and hospitals every day with up to 130,000 pharmaceutical products.

As a global leader in healthcare solutions, McKesson’s Corporate Responsibility Strategy is implemented through identifying the key ways in which their operations impact on the environment and the society. Subsequently, appropriate measures are decided on. These are divided into the three CR key areas: Energy Efficiency, Material Reduction and Better Health. This article’s focus lies in the third branch, namely “Better Health”.

In McKesson’s view, their strengths should target those areas of society that need help. To this end, they employ their international, national and local presence, their logistical expertise and the pharmaceutical knowledge of their employees. In this way, McKesson attempts to make a key contribution to improving health – both within and outside the company.

One such example is an activity carried out in the refugee camp Cara di Mineo in Sicily, Italy, in 2015. Set up in 2011, and with about 4500 refugees and migrants, Cara di Mineo in Sicily is one of the largest reception centers in Europe. On arrival, many refugees are in a poor state of health – they need medical help and care.

Via an initiative called “We help where help is needed”, McKesson Europe’s Italian subsidiary, Lloyds Farmacia, has supplied both the Italian Navy and the Italian Red Cross with medication and health products. These supplies helped the refugees and asylum seekers in one of the largest European refugee camps and on the Italian Navy’s rescue ship ‘Borsini’.

• - https://www.mckesson.eu/mck-en/corporate-responsibility/better-health