GSK and Mercury Drug serve over 20,000 patients under Operation Bigay Lunas 2009

Residents of Barangay Pinyahan in Quezon City braved the heat and the long lines to receive free medical consultations and quality medicines courtesy of Mercury Drug’s Operation: Bigay Lunas and supported by research-based pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).

Ten other Operation: Bigay Lunas sites all over the Philippines were supported by GSK as part of Mercury Drug’s effort to reach 120,000 indigent patients this year. Aside from Quezon City, residents of San Andres Manila, Pateros, Imus and Trece Martires Cavite, Cainta, Iloilo, Puerto Princesa Palawan, Iba Zambales, Iligan City and Dagupan City also benefited from free healthcare consultations and quality GSK medicines.

“We share the same vision of bringing quality medicines to more Filipinos, which is why GSK makes it a point to participate in this noteworthy effort of Mercury Drug every year,” Daisy Cembrano, GSK Foundation Executive Director, said.

Now on its 11th year, Operation Bigay Lunas, with the support of companies such as GSK, has improved the health of hundreds of thousands of Filipino families since the program began in 2000.

On the day of the nationwide healthcare mission, GSK also marked a patient care milestone in the Philippines by dropping the prices of most of its major medicines by 30 to 50 percent.

GSK implemented price reductions on medicines for acute diseases such as pneumonia and other bacterial infections, ulcer, bronchitis, nausea and vomiting among others. It also expanded its patient programs to include more medicines available at discounted prices to help patients manage chronic diseases such as hypertension, type 2 diabetes, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), bipolar disorder and chronic hepatitis B infection.

“There are millions of Filipinos out there who continue to suffer due to the lack of access to quality, affordable medicines. With these significant price reductions, GSK reinforces its commitment to bring our medicines within reach of more Filipinos,” Cembrano said.

As one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies, GSK Philippines is committed to improving access to its globally-trusted brands and fulfilling its responsibilities to underserved communities so that more Filipinos can do more, feel better, live longer.