Walmart, Elton John AIDS Foundation partner to help end HIV/AIDS epidemic
As part of Walmart’s mission to provide accessible and affordable, human-centered care while improving health equity and outcomes, the company announced that it has renewed its commitment to helping eradicate HIV/AIDS through education, access to testing and partnerships to raise awareness of available resources.
The United States has set a goal to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030. This June 5, the world marked 40 years since the first five cases of what later became known as AIDS were officially reported and at least 32 million lives were lost.
On World AIDS Day, Walmart is looking to be part of the solution to addressing the health inequities of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and supporting solutions to change the course of HIV in the United States.
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“Walmart is committed to providing affordable access to care that is human-centered and makes real progress to address inequities in health care,” John Wigneswaran, Walmart’s chief medical officer said. “For patients with HIV and populations at greatest risk, Walmart can play an important role in understanding each individual and the unique challenges they face, and our pharmacists play an important role in the treatment paradigm, especially for patients with HIV who may be on a complex medication regimen. We are dedicated to optimizing health by designing best-in-class clinical programs addressing each step of the patient’s health care journey.”
As part of this renewed commitment, Walmart has launched a community-centered specialty pharmacy strategy building centers of clinical excellence in specific diseases. The first three centers referred to individually as Specialty Pharmacy of the Community, provide customers with highly specialized pharmacy teams trained in HIV/AIDS medications, clinical services to recognize potential medication-related side effects and assistance to understand the unique needs of people living with HIV/AIDS.
These centers will help with all aspects of care, including industry-leading clinical programs, pharmacy services provided by HIV-trained pharmacists, enhanced care coordination, healthy lifestyle recommendations and finding emotional support services from our Community Health Workers.
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Previously, the retailer announced a partnership with the Elton John AIDS Foundation to help accelerate the end of AIDS in America. As part of this partnership, the company and organization will be hosting testing events on Dec. 1, with the help of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation and Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition. Free HIV testing and educational materials will be available during four parking lot testing events at Walmart locations in Atlanta.
Lastly, following the previous launch of Elton John Eyewear at both Sam’s Club and Walmart locations, the retailer will donate a minimum of $1 million annually from the eyewear collection to support the Elton John AIDS Foundation.