Walgreens supports presidential HIV initiative
Walgreens is partnering with two well-known on-demand delivery providers to help facilitate the treatment of HIV.
The drugstore giant is collaborating with DoorDash and Uber to provide free, same-day delivery of prescription medications for the prevention and treatment of HIV. This service is available to eligible patients within 15 miles of participating Walgreens retail pharmacies nationwide.
Offering free, same-day delivery of HIV prescription medications supports the White House’s updated National HIV/AIDS strategy for a more coordinated national response to HIV. The strategy’s targets include a 75% reduction in new HIV infections by 2025 and a 90% reduction by 2030.
This new prescription delivery initiative is the latest offering in an ongoing collaboration between Walgreens, DoorDash and Uber. In December 2022, following the companies’ response to the White House COVID-19 call to action, the companies launched free Paxlovid delivery services aimed at increasing access to COVID-19 treatment, with a focus on reaching those in socially vulnerable or medically underserved areas.
[Read more: Walgreens partners with DoorDash to deliver COVID-19 medication free]
“While most of the U.S. population lives within five miles of a Walgreens pharmacy, transportation remains a critical barrier to accessing healthcare,” said Kevin Ban, MD, chief medical officer, Walgreens. “With more than half of Walgreens stores located in socially vulnerable or underserved communities, we can help make HIV prevention and treatment options more accessible, convenient and equitable across our communities.”
“Local delivery has broadened access for communities across the U.S. DoorDash is proud to partner with Walgreens to power the free, same-day delivery of medication to prevent or treat HIV,” said Elizabeth Jarvis-Shean, VP of communications & policy, DoorDash. “Transportation barriers and other challenges can prevent people from accessing the medicine they need. Our partnership with Walgreens helps ensure that people aren’t denied lifesaving medication just because they can’t make it to their local pharmacy.”
“Over one million people in the U.S. have HIV and the disease disproportionately impacts traditionally underserved populations,” said Julia Paige, head of global social impact at Uber. “By combining Walgreens nationwide network of pharmacies with Uber’s industry-leading technology, our partnership will help reduce transportation and access barriers so that those who need it most can get their prescription delivered right to their door at no cost to them.”
Recently, Walgreens became a founding member of the U.S. Business Action to End HIV, a coalition of businesses seeking to scale up key HIV prevention and treatment strategies to help end the epidemic by 2030. And since 2011, Walgreens has worked with Greater Than HIV, a public information initiative of the Kaiser Family Foundation, and hundreds of community organizations to offer nearly 77,000 accessible, free and confidential HIV tests on National HIV Testing Day.