As a humanitarian crisis unfolds in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion, many have looked on in horror, asking what they can do to support civilians. 

From shipments of emergency medicines and medical devices, to cash donations and collections of sanitary and cleansing products, here are some of the ways in which pharmacies, pharmacy bodies, and wholesalers across the UK have come together to help. 

 

 

Read more: From conflict training to social media: How I raised £125k for charity

 

“This is about people helping people” 

 

 

Mike Hewitson, owner of The Abbey Pharmacy in Sherborne, Dorset told C+D today (March 2) that the pharmacy will have “in excess of £1,500 worth of goods at cost price by tomorrow”, following a collection.   

“This is about people helping people, rather than the formal non-governmental organisation aid routes,” he added. 

His pharmacy is storing all donations – which are “mainly dressings, sanitary and cleansing products” – in a nearby empty building.

The Abbey Pharmacy’s donations will form part of a larger collection locally in Yeovil, Somerset, which will be shipped to Przemyśl – a Polish town that sits close to the Ukrainian border – where volunteers will distribute the goods at the railway station to women, children and infants currently sheltering.  

Other pharmacies across the UK have also taken to social media to ask for donations as they assist with collections. Sinclairs Pharmacy in east London posted on Instagram that they are collecting donations of “toiletries, first aid essentials and basic medicines” and “cash donations at the box in our pharmacy”, which will be delivered directly by local volunteers to those in need. 

While Harkins Pharmacy in Maghera, Northern Ireland has asked on Facebook that those donating items including sleeping bags, pillows, personal care, medication and tinned and long-life foods, drop anything off by tomorrow at 4pm.

 

“Watching the terrible events unfold in Ukraine, we were very keen to do something to help,” a spokesperson for the pharmacy told C+D. “The donations have been and continue to be overwhelming in such a short time. We honestly cannot take in the level of generosity and kindness in our community.” 

 

They are proud, they added, that “our pharmacies are seen as such an integral part of the Maghera community”. 

 

 

Photo Credit: Harkins Pharmacy 

 

Pharmacy bodies mobilise to send supplies 

 

 

A National Pharmacy Association (NPA) spokesperson told C+D today that it had received “a list of medicines that the Ukrainian ministry of health is seeking to source”, as did the NPA’s “sister national pharmacy associations across Europe”. 

The association is “speaking to wholesalers to establish the best way to collect and supply medicines to Ukraine”, the spokesperson added. 

Meanwhile Leyla Hannbeck, chief executive officer at Association of Independent Multiple pharmacies (AIMp), told C+D that “several AIMp members” had already pitched to send “emergency medicines and medicinal devices to the most affected areas” of the country. 

“Many are also coordinating with volunteers and hospitals to support where they can,” Dr Hannbeck added. 

One such member, Day Lewis, tweeted yesterday that its wholesaler Wells Offshore volunteered to “immediately” transport emergency and medical supplies to parts of Ukraine bearing the brunt of the conflict. 

Wholesalers raise relief funds 

 

 

Alliance Healthcare, along with all businesses within AmerisourceBergen, is “working to respond to the needs identified by European officials and humanitarian organisations”, an Alliance Healthcare spokesperson told C+D. 

“The AmerisourceBergen Foundation has already assembled a package of more than $100,000 of relief funds,” they continued. 

“Our thoughts are with the Ukrainian people during this time of conflict,” the spokesperson said.

The relief funds will go to “organisations that are on the ground in Ukraine” and “provide care and relief to those impacted by this conflict”.

 

McKesson UK – Lloydspharmacy's and AAH's parent company – also told C+D it is committed to supporting colleagues and others directly affected by the invasion of Ukraine, including some of its “long-standing partners” based in the country.

 

This support includes extended leave to colleagues “who may need to take time to support their families and loved ones in the affected areas”, it added. “This is a difficult time for many, and we are encouraging colleagues to use the counselling and advice services we have available, if they need to talk to someone.”

 

McKesson UK is also coordinating with the British Red Cross to provide “a substantial donation of healthcare supplies to organisations in the area” and it is encouraging donations to the British Red Cross Ukraine Appeal.  

 

The Phoenix Group gears up to deliver medicines

 

 

Meanwhile, wholesaler Phoenix – who does not have operations in Ukraine – told C+D that it is “currently preparing the delivery of medicines, bandages and medical equipment” through its “national subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Slovakia, and the Baltic States”. 

The wholesaler is also putting together another shipment from Germany “in close coordination with the German pharmaceutical wholesale association Phagro”, it added. 

“Our thoughts are with the people who fear for their lives and livelihoods in the Ukrainian crisis area,” said Sven Seidel, chief executive officer at the Phoenix Group. 

“As a pan-European company, we do not hesitate to provide fast and reliable support. With our decentralised set-up and the geographical coverage of our logistics network, we can deliver medicines and aid to where they are urgently needed.” 

Mark Samuels, chief executive of the British Generic Manufacturers Association (BGMA), also said the organisation had been “in direct contact with the Ukrainian health ministry to discuss how [BGMA] members can best support with supplies on the ground”. 

“We are also coordinating with the efforts of the UK government and charitable partners to facilitate access to critically needed medicines,” he added.

 

“No effects” on UK supply chain 

 

 

Meanwhile, Healthcare Distribution Association (HDA) executive Martin Sawer told C+D that no members have so far reported disruptions to the supply chain from the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. 

Alliance Healthcare's operations in the UK are also “proceeding as normal”, the company’s spokesperson confirmed to C+D. 

“We continue to partner with our suppliers to ensure continued supply and access to medicines and essential healthcare products,” they said. 

In a tweet shared yesterday (March 1), epidemiologist and health economist Eric Feigl-Ding claimed Russian attacks had cut off access to pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk’s main warehouse in Ukraine, where all of its insulin is stored. He stated that pharmacies only had “a couple days of insulin left”, if access to the warehouse was not restored. 

Novo Nordisk media relations director Mette Kruse Danielsen told C+D that the company’s “warehouse in Ukraine is still in operation”, but “deliveries have been and will be impacted due to shortages in driving staff”. 

“We are doing everything we can to get medicines to patients that need them either through the Ukrainian health authorities or through humanitarian organisations” such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, she continued. 

Mr Sawer clarified that the UK is at present unaffected by these proceedings as it “always has stockpiles of these type[s] of critical products...as do other countries”.

The Department of Health and Social Care told Mr Sawer that the “UK is not exposed currently”, he claimed.