WILMINGTON — AstraZeneca has donated $25,000 to the Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition on Nov. 1 as part of its inaugural “ACT on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge.”
The biopharmaceutical company donated to 30 nonprofits in all, including four others in the Philadelphia Region. Recipients will use the funds to accelerate positive change for underserved populations at the local level.
AstraZeneca’s ACT on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge is part of the company’s long-term commitment to identify and invest in solutions to advance health equity in partnership with the external community. Applicants were considered under two focuses: community health and wellbeing or youth STEM education and career readiness.
“AstraZeneca is committed to advancing health equity in the United States and we realize that this can only be done in partnership with local community leaders, ”AstraZeneca Head of U.S. Advocacy & Alliance Martha Orzechowski said in a statement. “The Community Solutions Challenge is a deliberate addition to our giving strategy which we believe is fundamental to achieving greater impact. We must work together at the community level in our schools, homes and communities to address the factors that contribute to inequities.”
In its inaugural year, more than 1,350 applications were received representing 49 US states. ACT on Health Equity is informed by the AstraZeneca Health Equity Advisory Council, a distinguished group of national experts and is committed to making an impact on the health and wellbeing of all people.
The Delaware Breast Cancer Coalition is developing the Chanpyons Project, a breast health outreach program to address disparities in reaching the underserved Haitian population in the state to improve access to care. As a unique cultural healthcare initiative, the Chanpyons Project would be the first of its kind in Delaware.
Other regional recipients include Big Picture Philadelphia which provides resiliency services to high school students; Esperanza which works to increase awareness of diabetes and cardiovascular disease in the Latinx community in the Hunting Park neighborhood; After-School All-Stars which provides free, comprehensive after-school programs; The Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University for its Women In Natural Sciences programming. Each recipient received $25,000.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is a wake-up call from Mother Nature. Misinformation is real, trust matters and the health promotion message must be culturally matched with the right messenger,” AstraZeneca Health Equity Advisory Council member Dr. Stephen B. Thomas. “By working together today, we can make a better tomorrow – where science will help ensure everyone has a chance to be as healthy as possible.”
