• Healthy Communities

    Healthy Communities

    We strive to be a leading partner in reimagining how local healthcare improves societal health and well-being.

Healthy Communities

We strive to be a leading partner in reimagining how local healthcare improves societal health and well-being.

Making Joy Possible for Everyone Everywhere

We believe healthy communities are built on programs and initiatives that accelerate health equity and access to affordable, quality healthcare. Our work reflects our long-standing partnerships and investments in critical issues that our communities care about most: cancer care and research, youth empowerment, mental health, vaccine and vitamin accessibility, and hygiene poverty. 

2022 Highlights and Progress
Access icon

69M+

COVID-19 vaccinations and over 45 million COVID-19 tests as of Aug. 31, 2022

covid vaccine icon

80M+ 

Vaccinations funded through “Get a Shot. Give a Shot.” and the UN Foundation through fiscal 2022, since 2013

vitamins icon

350M+

Women and children received vitamins and minerals through our partnership with Vitamin Angels since 2013

Red nose day icon

$324M+

Raised for Red Nose Day since launching in 2015

donate dollar icon

$25M+

Donated to Susan G. Komen and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society through lifetime of the partnership

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$5.8M

Worth of flu shot vouchers donated worldwide by the close of fiscal 2022

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$27M

Raised with Macmillan Cancer Support since the partnership began

* As of the end of fiscal 2022, August 31, 2022

Alethia Jackson
“As WBA's new senior vice president of ESG and chief DEI officer for the Walgreens business, our company’s purpose — to enable the world to live more joyful lives through better health — is incredibly important to me. Health is a core component of equity within ESG and DEI, and it will be at the center of any strategy we put forth. It is a fundamental component of our lives and a determinant of so many things, including the world we live in, the bodies we move in, the minds we use and the future we make for ourselves.” 

Alethia Jackson 

Senior Vice President of ESG and Chief DEI Officer, Walgreens Boots Alliance 

 

Get a shot, give a shot
Our Commitment to Vaccine Access and Awareness

We are committed to providing essential healthcare to underserved communities and addressing health equity. Our Vaccine Equity Task Force has made significant progress in protecting communities that were disproportionately affected by COVID-19.

In fiscal 2022, we partnered with universities, community centers, and local and faith-based organizations to administer doses at nearly 2,100 events, reaching communities in need of the vaccine. We also established a Health Equity Stakeholder Group and network of Health Equity Champions to ensure our initiatives meet the standards of addressing health inequities.

Our pharmacy staff administered more than 69 million vaccines and more than 45 million COVID-19 tests through Aug. 31, 2022, with more than one-third of the COVID-19 vaccines provided in socially vulnerable communities. We will continue to make a positive impact on healthcare access and affordability in the communities we serve.

giving back leukemia lymphoma society
Partnerships for Good

We continue to engage in long-term partnerships at the national and international levels to tackle health issues like poverty, disease prevention, mental health, dementia and cancer support. Through our partnerships with government agencies and nonprofit organizations, our businesses around the world support efforts to educate and provide preventive care to our communities. 

In the area of cancer care, WBA focuses on creating innovative and meaningful support for patients and their loved ones in three ways: assisting people living with cancer, working with organizations that advance research and supporting prevention programs.  

We also work with charitable partners that help empower young people to reach their full potential. By providing life-saving vaccinations and vitamins through Get A Shot. Give A Shot. and the award-winning Vitamin Angels program, we are committed to supporting the health and well-being of future generations.

Partnerships for Good
Vitamins Angels, Global
vitamins angels
Vitamin Angels, Global

The award-winning partnership between WBA and Vitamin Angels has provided more than 350 million undernourished children and expectant mothers with life-changing vitamins and minerals in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and more than 65 countries around the world since the partnership started in 2013. WBA is well on its way to reaching its commitment of helping 500 million women and children by the end of fiscal 2025. 

HIV testing in the U.S., Chile and Thailand
hiv testing
HIV testing in the U.S., Chile and Thailand

For 12 years, the Greater Than AIDS/Walgreens National HIV Community Partnership has worked with local health departments and HIV organizations to expand access to HIV testing and information through nontraditional settings. Since 2011, more than 76,000 free HIV tests have been provided as part of the annual event, including over 15,000 at-home self-tests provided during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Hygiene Bank, UK
hygiene bank
The Hygiene Bank, UK

Since 2019, Boots, No7 Beauty Company and The Hygiene Bank have worked together to provide essential hygiene and personal care products to the 1 in 5 people in the UK living in poverty. During fiscal 2022, Boots UK and No7 Beauty Company donated more than 220,000 products to those living in hygiene poverty. 

Macmillan Cancer Support, UK
Macmillan Cancer Support, UK
Macmillan Cancer Support, UK

Now in its 13th year, Boots UK’s partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support has raised more than £21 million ($27 million) to support people living with cancer, including funding a Macmillan nurse for a year. We have over 3,000 specially trained Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacists (BMIP) who are now accessible through every pharmacy store. 

Susan G. Komen and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, U.S.
giving back leukemia lymphoma society
Susan G. Komen and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, U.S.

Walgreens collaborates with Susan G. Komen and The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) to enable research in tough-to-treat cancers and increase access to care. In 2019, Walgreens pledged to raise more than $25 million for the two organizations over a five-year period. We are proud to report that we exceeded that goal in fiscal 2022. 

Get a Shot. Give a Shot., Global
Get a shot, give a shot
Get a Shot. Give a Shot., Global

Together with the United Nations (UN) Foundation’s Shot@Life campaign, we’ve helped provide 82 million lifesaving measles and polio vaccines to children around the world since 2013 for every vaccination administered at Walgreens and Duane Reade pharmacies and clinics. WBA is on track to reach its goal of 100 million vaccinations by 2024. 

Red Nose Day, Global
Red Nose Day
Red Nose Day, Global

We celebrated Red Nose Day for the eighth consecutive year as the exclusive retailer of the nationwide campaign to help end the cycle of childhood poverty and ensure a healthy future for all children. Red Nose Day has raised more than $324 million since launching in the U.S. in 2015, impacting the lives of 31 million children. Walgreens has raised more than $178 million toward that total. 

Hope Chicago, U.S.
Hope Chicago
Hope Chicago, U.S.

Walgreens is among the companies supporting Hope Chicago, a new two-generation program with the goal to create pathways to success for 30,000 Chicago students and parents through equitable access to higher education. 

Hope Chicago scholarships do not have GPA requirements, and they pay for all college and living expenses, not just tuition and room and board.  

Prioritizing Prescription Misuse Prevention

Prescription misuse prevention is a priority for our pharmacy staff. Our status as a leader in the retail pharmacy industry and our expansive reach across communities allows us to play a significant role in addressing the opioid epidemic.  

Walgreens maintains a Good Faith Dispensing policy, which provides the foundation for our pharmacists to understand their roles and responsibilities when dispensing prescriptions for controlled substances. This policy requires a pharmacist to evaluate the patient, prescriber, drug, applicable law and surrounding circumstances prior to making an appropriate professional decision whether to dispense a prescription for a controlled substance. 

Boots UK has developed and launched Patient Safety First materials on opioids for its pharmacy staff. The learning modules focus on compassionate care practices and help our team members understand substance misuse from a holistic perspective while learning to recognize the symptoms of those who may be abusing. 

The following are updates on our progress on ongoing, multimillion-dollar initiatives to combat prescription drug abuse in the U.S.: 

2022 Highlights
Antidote Naloxene Kits icon

319K

Naloxone kits (used to treat opioid overdose) dispensed; available without a prescription in all U.S. Retail Pharmacy locations

Medication disposal icon

1.4K+

Safe medication disposal kiosks in Walgreens locations

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1.8M+

Take-home safe medication disposal kits shipped to stores since May 2019

Unwanted medication disposal icon

486 metric tonnes

Unwanted medications safely disposed of in fiscal 2022

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1890 metric tonnes

Unwanted medications safely disposed of since 2016