Humanitarian Aid Donations Change Lives

By Lucianne Bannerman, WFH Program Officer, Humanitarian Aid

Issa Ibrahim* from Sudan and Armando Santos* from the Philippines both know first-hand the pain that comes with living with hemophilia when there are no clotting factor concentrates available for the treatment of bleeds.

Armando explains that because hemophilia is a life-long bleeding disorder, it is often a physical, mental, and financial burden on himself and his family. “I often have to be absent from work when I have a bout of bleeding, and so does the family member who tends to me. This affects our family’s income,” he says. Issa tells of the difficulties that come with living in a remote area in Sudan with no access to hemophilia care and having to travel for two days by road to the only hemophilia treatment center in the country, in Khartoum, the capital. Add this to the fact that availability of clotting factor concentrates is not guaranteed, so Issa often opts to stay at home until the bleed subsides on its own.

The World Federation of Hemophilia’s Humanitarian Aid Program has been in operation since 1996. This program channels donations of clotting factor concentrates to support its program activities and provide immediate support to people with inherited bleeding disorders in urgent need, who live in countries with limited access to treatment. Donations are also used to support ongoing development projects and to accelerate the development of sustainable national healthcare programs for people with bleeding disorders. In the last 10 years, over 130 million international units (IUs) of factor have been channelled through the WFH to 68 countries around the world.

WFH USA receives donated treatment products from manufacturers, treatment centers, and homecare companies in the USA. The donated products are stored and distributed by our contract licensed pharmacy at Hemophilia of Georgia. Thanks to supporters of WFH USA, there are funds available to help pay for shipping costs.

Packaging product donations at Hemophilia of Georgia

Thanks to generous, substantial, and in some cases, long-term donations of product from our corporate partners, including 40 million IUs from Wyeth, now a part of Pfizer, and 2 million IUs a year for three years from CSL Behring, in 2009 the WFH distributed an outstanding 12.3 million IU of treatment products to people all over the world with inherited bleeding disorders. The donations helped support the WFH’s Global Alliance for Progress program, which serves as a catalyst for bringing about sustainable care and lobbying governments to increase funding for hemophilia care.

Thanks to such donations, Issa recently underwent an operation to treat a pseudotumor which would not have been possible otherwise. He is now out of hospital, back to his village, and is working again. Armando also tells of how donated factor made it possible for him to have a bilateral knee replacement.

Although intended to meet short-term needs, product donations go a long way to support and sustain already established hemophilia care programs in developing countries. Issa and Armando’s stories are two of many that show how donated products improve the quality of life for thousands of people living with bleeding disorders worldwide.

WFH USA would like to thank corporate partners Baxter, Bayer, Biotest, CSL Behring, and Wyeth/Pfizer for their donations and continuing support. Organizations interested in donating hemophilia treatment products are invited to contact Lucianne Bannerman, Program Officer for Humanitarian Aid, at lbannerman@wfh.org.

WFH USA is deeply grateful to Hemophilia of Georgia for its invaluable partnership in the Humanitarian Aid Program.

Donations help to cover the costs of distributing humanitarian aid. Click here to make a donation.

*The names of the people with hemophilia in this article have been changed in order to protect their privacy.

April 2010