The globally active L&R Group, a supplier of medical devices, nursing and hygiene products, has been regularly involved in humanitarian issues for several years: On several occasions the Group has donated urgently needed medical devices, most recently for the crisis zones in Syria, Zimbabwe, the Philippines, as well as for other states with relatively weak medical infrastructure.
Since 2011, the civilian population in Syria has been caught up in a civil war that by July 2013 had claimed the lives of more than 100,000 people and resulted in more than 9 million refugees, with 6.5 million displaced people within Syria itself.1
At the start of November 2013, typhoon Haiyan hit the islands of the Philippines and destroyed large parts of the infrastructure and thus the livelihoods of many people. The typhoon left 4 million people without homes and thousands lost their lives.2
When human lives and the infrastructure of a country are devastated as in both these catastrophes, providing medical care to survivors becomes very difficult – whether because of hospitals have been destroyed or patients cannot be treated because of a lack of medical devices and medications. Apart from such disasters, a good, comprehensive provision of medical devices is not always given in many other states, in part also in Europe.
For these reasons, Lohmann & Rauscher (L&R) now collaborated with the two organizations Human Plus e. V. and humedica e. V. – both have many years of experience in handling donations for international crises – and donated once again a large shipment of urgently needed medical devices.
L&R helps where help is most needed
A total of 35 pallets, mostly containing wound dressings, adhesive dressings and bandages, were delivered to the Human Plus e.V. packaging site in Nettetal, Germany, in December 2013, where they were divided up and packaged based on need for delivery to crisis zones in Syria and the Philippines. Ritter-Trans GmbH, a long-time logistics service provider operating out of Austria, has offered once again to transport the products from the L&R storage facility in Schönau an der Triesting in Austria to Nettetal without charge. From there, parts of the donated goods were sent to the Middle East in early 2014 – the destination is a hospital in Taftanaz in the Northwest of Syria. The delivery for the Philippines will be processed at a later date.
The organization humedica in Kaufbeuren in the Allgäu/Germany was provided with a total of 14 pallets of Suprasorb P in February 2014. humedica plans to send the L&R PU foam wound dressing also to Syria, but also to Zimbabwe and in structurally weak areas in Romania, Moldova and Ukraine.
In addition to various other local donations and sponsorships in the countries in which L&R or its subsidiaries are established, the medical provider once again donated – after 2011 and 2012 (Libya and Syria) – large quantities of medical products for areas in crisis situations.
Commitment to social sustainability and global responsibility
Wolfgang Süßle, CEO of the L&R Group, explains the company’s motivation to donate goods: “The success of a company can no longer be defined purely from a financial perspective today. Sustained success also means a harmonious interplay between economic interests and social responsibility and we have also incorporated this into our L&R corporate philosophy. As a globally active group, we also want to exercise our accountability at an international level. Crises such as the one in Syria require our specific assistance – we happily and voluntarily take on this responsibility based on our ethical standards. We are pleased to have such expert and reliable partners in Human Plus, humedica and Ritter-Trans, who have helped us to deliver this aid professionally and efficiently.”
References:
1 Spiegel Online: Uno-Bericht: Neun Millionen Syrer sind auf der Flucht vor dem Krieg, 1. Februar 2014 (Online abrufbar unter: http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/syrien-schlimmste-fluechtlingskrise-seit-zwanzig-jahren-a-950510.html
2 Caritas Österreich Katastrophenhilfe: Drei Monate nach dem Taifun, 6. Februar 2014 (Online abrufbar unter: http://www.caritas.at/auslandshilfe/katastrophenhilfe/taifun-philippinen/)
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