Critical intravenous solutions were among the products Baxter donated to support organizations helping to address the cholera outbreak in central Haiti in late 2010. (Photo courtesy of Nadia Todres/AmeriCares.)

Ineffective infrastructure, political instability, lack of education and poverty continue to limit many people around the world from receiving healthcare. Inadequate availability and affordability of medical products also contribute to these challenges. Baxter recognizes that for its access to healthcare strategy to be sustainable, it must comprise both a responsible commercial strategy and a charitable product donation component. As a global healthcare company focused on innovation, Baxter is committed to increasing access to healthcare through product and business model improvements, as well as cash and product donations.

In recognition of Baxter's global reach delivering healthcare products, in 2010 Baxter changed its approach in an effort to improve access to the "base of the pyramid" (BoP).² The company continued its collaboration with Professor Stuart Hart from Cornell University and the Enterprise for a Sustainable World (ESW), refining its process to investigate BoP opportunities that more clearly align with Baxter’s business objectives. The team considered Baxter's current market experience along with the company's current and emerging technologies to understand where the company is currently close to the BoP or has technology well suited for use in the BoP. The resulting analysis of current market experience and technologies will provide a solid foundation for identifying future opportunities and approaches to improve access to healthcare for the BoP.

Due in part to significant transitions within the company's regional and business organizations, progress on this area of Baxter's sustainability program was slower than expected. Changes in management resulted in changes in the BoP leadership team's composition and also meant that BoP efforts in 2010 were mainly focused on engaging senior management and the business teams on what a strategy on addressing healthcare needs at the base of the pyramid would entail. With a new team in place and considerable feedback from each of Baxter's BioScience and Medical Products businesses, the team re-aligned its efforts and more immediate tasks from what it originally anticipated accomplishing in 2010. In order to work toward solutions for the BoP, the team realized it needed to better understand challenges related to global healthcare reform and continuity of care for patients who currently access Baxter's products and treatments. It also was apparent that on a local level, there were many efforts underway to improve access to care for those in the BoP. Consequently, the BoP leadership team is working with ESW to catalog those efforts and learn from them in any long-term approach that the company may choose to develop.

During 2011, the BoP team will take the following steps:

• Develop criteria to assess current and future products for relevance to the BoP;
• Inventory and analyze Baxter's current BoP initiatives; and
• Analyze the company's portfolio of emerging technologies for potential fit with BoP needs (in conjunction with managers from Baxter corporate and business research & development groups).

During 2010, Baxter continued its major donor partnerships with AmeriCares and Direct Relief International (DRI). Baxter collaborates closely with these organizations to develop a yearly product donation plan to help ensure Baxter's critical healthcare products are available where and when needed. Strategic shipments from Baxter made in the spring of 2010 positioned AmeriCares and DRI to pull from inventory and provide products valued at approximately $70,000 in support of flood relief efforts in Pakistan and India.

Baxter is among a select group of companies to implement this strategic, proactive approach to product donations, which improves the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall donation process and eliminates "fire drill" responses to disasters. It also reduces waste because AmeriCares and DRI can anticipate what to expect from Baxter so are less likely to request unneeded supplies from other companies.

In 2010, Baxter's long-standing relationships with these organizations also helped facilitate timely, targeted support in response to the January 2010 earthquake and subsequent cholera outbreak in Haiti. Directly after the earthquake struck, Baxter worked closely with DRI to bypass DRI's standard process of shipping products to its warehouse in Santa Barbara, California, United States and instead used Baxter's distribution expertise to pack and ship six trailer truckloads — more than 11 metric tons — of donated antibiotics, IV solutions and other vital products valued at more than $2.2 million directly to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. As a result, Baxter products reached patients two weeks sooner than otherwise.

In October, in the midst of the country's subsequent cholera outbreak, Baxter was uniquely positioned to provide Iife-saving medical products, including IV solutions and sets used to administer the solutions, to help hydrate those affected by waterborne bacteria through a donation to AmeriCares. In total, Baxter's overall charitable giving in response to the Haiti earthquake totaled $7.7 million, and the company continues to work with these donor partners to assess ongoing relief needs in the country.