Boehringer Ingelheim Announces $1.14 Million Support for Lebanon

In light of the massive explosion that hit the harbor of Beirut on Tuesday August 4th 2020, Boehringer Ingelheim – one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies – stood in solidarity with the people of Lebanon in this incredibly difficult time, by announcing $1.14 Million of aid to support local relief.  

As part of its contributions to support the Lebanese society and communities, Boehringer Ingelheim has decided to support rebuilding some of the substantially damaged hospitals to help ensure sustainability of securing healthcare, donating essential Boehringer Ingelheim medicines to patients living with chronic and rare diseases and contributing to provide medical and healthcare services through partnering with different NGOs.

 “The explosion comes at a very sensitive time for Lebanon, already battling a severe economic crisis that is also coinciding with the COVID-19 pandemic. Our thoughts and sympathy go out to the people of Lebanon in this incredibly difficult time, and we at Boehringer Ingelheim are dedicated to ensuring that the Lebanese community as well as our colleagues who have been affected by this devastating incident receive full and utmost support to overcome this tragedy,” stated Fouad Jeweidi, Head of Human Pharma Levant, Iraq and North East Africa (LINEA) at Boehringer Ingelheim. “We will achieve this objective through various measures such as financial contributions, medicines donations and employee support. We aspire to be one of the contributors who re-built Beirut”. 

The company’s employees showed their solidarity with their communities by volunteering to prepare and distribute meals within Beirut where needed as well as contributing with cleaning-up efforts post the damages across the city. 

Boehringer Ingelheim’s Lebanon office figured amongst the countless damages resulting from the Beirut explosion. Located six kilometers from the harbor, the office was partially damaged as many other buildings in the area. The company has also confirmed that all its employees located in Beirut are safe, as no one was present at the office at the time of the explosion.
Boehringer Ingelheim’s regional office for Middle East, Turkey and Africa (META) has also undertaken numerous measures to assist its colleagues based in Lebanon during this time. This includes offering hotel stay while home repairs continue, the provision of rental cars to compensate for damaged personal vehicles and offering counselling services for impacted employees to support their mental health and wellbeing. 

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Notes to the editor:

About Boehringer Ingelheim
Improving the health of humans and animals is the goal of the research-driven pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. The focus in doing so is on diseases for which no satisfactory treatment option exists to date. The company therefore concentrates on developing innovative therapies that can extend patients’ lives. In animal health, Boehringer Ingelheim stands for advanced prevention. 
Family-owned since it was established in 1885, Boehringer Ingelheim is one of the pharmaceutical industry’s top 20 companies. Some 50,000 employees create value through innovation daily for the three business areas human pharmaceuticals, animal health and biopharmaceuticals. In 2018, Boehringer Ingelheim achieved net sales of around 17.5 billion euros. R&D expenditure of almost 3.2 billion euros corresponded to 18.1 per cent of net sales. 
As a family-owned company, Boehringer Ingelheim plans in generations and focuses on long-term success. The company therefore aims at organic growth from its own resources with simultaneous openness to partnerships and strategic alliances in research. In everything it does, Boehringer Ingelheim naturally adopts responsibility towards humankind and the environment. 
For more information please visit  https://www.mea.boehringer-ingelheim.com/

Sara Shamel
Head of External Communications – META
Boehringer Ingelheim
T: +971 553258101
sara.shamel@boehringer-ingelheim.com