On April 16th, global healthcare company Grifols announced its donation of 25 million international units (IU) of blood clotting factor drugs. These donations occurred within the last year, and are part of Grifols’ mission to donate at least 200 million IU to the World Federation of Hemophilia. Keep reading to learn more, and follow the original source here for additional information.
Estimates suggest that around 400,000 people suffer from hemophilia worldwide. Only one quarter of them receive adequate treatment. Hemophilia occurs when there is an absence of clotting factor in the blood. As a result, patients who experience bleeding are often unable to stop the bleeding. The body is incapable of producing the clot required to close the wound. Click here to learn more about hemophilia.
That’s partly why in 2014 Grifols committed to contributing 200 million IU of blood clotting factor medicines. Thus far, Grifols’ contributions help patients in 47 different countries.
Grifols plans to donate another 25 million units of the helpful medications in 2018.
One patient, identified only as Francis, expresses gratitude towards the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) and its supporters. According to Francis, fifteen years ago hemophilia patients often received only minimal treatment. Doctors would simply prescribe them pain medication to help manage bleeds. Now, however, Francis says they have access to treatment. Francis thanks WFH, and donors like Grifols for this change taking place.
According to Grifols’ Co-CEO Victor Grifols Deu, the company remains steadfast to the ideas behind WFH and continues to support its mission. He continues to express Grifols’ dedication to ensuring treatment is available to those who otherwise would lack access to it.
In pursuit of this aim, Grifols increased production. By default, Grifols produces plasma-derived medications for treatment of rare diseases. This includes hemophilia, and a variety of solutions involve din diagnosing bleeding disorders.
In order to meet its commitment to WFH, Grifols specifically increased its production of blood clotting factor medicines. These include Factor VIII, and Factor IX medications.
Based on estimates by the WFH, donations by Grifols account for 10,300 doses per year. This enables the treatment of roughly 6,000 patients per year in regions that would otherwise lack treatment. The WFH states that this commitment by Grifols allows for the treatment of many in need. They continue to be thankful for any support in their battle against hemophilia.
More information on WFH can be found here, while further information regarding Grifols is available here.
