Giving back has been a core value at Mylan since the beginning. Our founders believed contributing to Mylan’s community was a great way to stay connected to people and truly understand their needs. That simple principle of being of service would grow in importance and scope as the company grew, too – first across the U.S., and then across the world. Whether it has been helping residents recover from devastating floods in West Virginia or ensuring young Indian students had a safe water supply, Mylan has promoted better health through supporting our neighbors and strengthening our communities.
We currently manage community initiatives based on region. For example, in India, we have a very robust program honoring the India Companies Act, which mandates that companies spend 2% of their average net profits (made during the three immediately preceding financial years) on corporate social responsibility initiatives. In the U.S., Mylan has a donations policy and committee that manages contributions. Mylan country managers oversee community initiatives in other regions in accordance with local and company policies. The Mylan Charitable Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) organization, also provides financial support to help meet community education, social services and health needs, among other areas.
In the summer of 2019, we debuted the Mylan-sponsored Innovation Station curriculum to 4-H campers to encourage kids to challenge themselves and develop important critical thinking skills. In the fall, we started introducing that curriculum into schools across West Virginia. We took every opportunity in 2019 to spread awareness about the program, including speaking to educators and 4-H leaders from around the country at the annual meeting of the National Association of Extension 4-H Agents.
Mylan has brought health outreach programs in India that have impacted the lives of more than 1 million people over the past five years, including through our multi-specialty health camps that provide education and help identify gaps in care. One example is Mylan’s partnership with the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in India for the “Healthy Liver, Healthy Delhi” initiative which serves to create awareness of liver health and facilitate screening of hepatitis B and C. Mylan has funded a state-of-the-art mobile diagnostic unit for detection of liver-related disorders, offering free screenings through the program’s mobile clinics.
Other recent efforts have included implementing a comprehensive sanitation and hygiene program in schools, establishing an Affordable Cancer Care program where healthcare professionals were trained to screen for and treat cancer at district-level hospitals and improve care given to cancer patients, and sponsoring a TB screening camp of more than 1 million people as part of a national mission to eradicate the disease by training health workers and providing ease of access to medicines. To date, more than 6 million people have been screened for oral cancer with Mylan’s support under the Affordable Cancer Care Program.
Overall, Mylan’ s programs in health, community welfare and education have impacted the lives of more than 11 million people in India over the past five years.
For more than 30 years, Mylan has manufactured medicines in Puerto Rico. As part of our commitment to helping the country and its citizens after Hurricane Maria, in 2018 the Mylan Charitable Foundation approved a $1 million grant to SBP – a national disaster recovery organization, to assist with the long-term recovery efforts and rebuilding of homes. In the spring of 2019, Mylan attended a welcome home ceremony to see how the foundation’s donation has helped jumpstart the rebuild and repair of devastated homes on the island.
This pledge was on top of what we did after the storm violently struck three years ago: We immediately shipped 36,000 pounds of essential items needed by local residents in a chartered aircraft; opened the doors of our manufacturing plant to provide food, water and other assistance to those in the surrounding area.
Mylan recognizes that water is a scarce resource in many of the communities where our employees live and the company does business. We work proactively to protect water and reduce consumption. While we have made significant headway in reduction at some locations, our water usage in 2017 increased by 3.5% to 3.3 million cubic meters, due primarily to increased global production. We continually look for ways to reduce water consumption, reuse water for non-potable purposes and install technologies that ensure adequate quality wastewater.
We continue to invest in wastewater treatment facilities and look for additional improvements across our operations. For example, we recently installed a state-of-the-art, full-scale wastewater treatment system in our manufacturing facility in Galway, Ireland.