• Vitamin Angels

    Healthy Communities

    Improving health equity and societal well-being

Healthy Communities

Improving health equity and societal well-being

Helping communities thrive by improving the health of our neighbors is at the heart of Walgreens Boots Alliance. Whether we are investing in programs to support people living with health conditions or addressing availability of vaccines, vitamins or mental health services, we understand that it takes advocacy, collaboration and leadership to build healthy communities.
2023 highlights and progress
Donation

$373M*

Donated by WBA over the past eight years to support the health and well-being of the communities we serve

covid vaccine icon

93M+ 

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

vitamins icon

400M+

Women and children received vitamins and minerals through our partnership with Vitamin Angels, which marked 10 years in 2023

Red nose day icon

$200M+

Money raised by Walgreens for Red Nose Day since launching in the U.S. in 2015

project confirmation icon

$8.6M

Worth of flu shot vouchers donated by Walgreens since 2019

donated icon

$27M

Raised with Macmillan Cancer Support since the partnership began

*Cash and Non-cash valuation of community contributions. 

Alethia Jackson
“In this milestone year, I feel privileged to be part of an incredible team that follows a long tradition of healthcare pioneers, who are committed to enabling healthier communities across the U.S. and around the world. Community is the backbone of our society and as recognized by the World Health organization, health is the underpinning of productive, resilient and stable economies. Our commitment to championing healthier communities is of critical importance to current and future generations.”

Alethia Jackson 

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

 

Medals
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. Our collaborations help improve the lives of hundreds of millions of vulnerable people, especially women and children.

Through our charitable partnerships, we aim to lead by example and be a catalyst for others to do good. To maximize our impact, we created several initiatives that our team members, customers, patients, suppliers and local communities are empowered to support. These programs generate enthusiasm, increase team member satisfaction and engagement and build customer loyalty.

Partnerships for Good
Vitamin Angels, Global
Vitamin Angels
Vitamin Angels, Global

Since 2013, Vitamin Angels and Walgreens have partnered to improve health and nutrition for pregnant women and young children in need. Walgreens donates 1% of retail vitamin and supplement sales to Vitamin Angels. In fiscal 2023, reached $10.9 million in donations from vitamin sales. In addition to supporting their global programs that reach women and children in 65 countries, Walgreens partnership also supports Vitamin Angels’ domestic prenatal program, reaching pregnant women in need across all 50 U.S. states and Puerto Rico. In 2023, our partnership achieved a major milestone celebrating 10 years of partnership and reached over 400 million women and children with life-changing vitamins. 

American Red Cross
American Red Cross logo
American Red Cross

Walgreens continues to partner with the American Red Cross to help provide products and monetary donations to help aid in natural disaster relief and support affected communities. In October 2022, Walgreens donated $500,000 to the American Red Cross Hurricanes 2022 Fund to help with relief efforts following Hurricanes Ian and Fiona that hit communities in Florida and Puerto Rico. Following the devastating wildfires in Maui, Walgreens donated $25,000 worth of products to the American Red Cross to deliver to survivors of the fires.

The Hygiene Bank, UK
Hygiene Bank
The Hygiene Bank, UK

Since 2020, Boots, No7 Beauty Company & The Hygiene Bank have worked together to provide essential toiletries and personal care products to those in need across the UK. Since the inception of our partnership Boots and No7 Beauty Company have donated over 1.5 million products and have over 700 donation locations across the UK, which is continually increasing.

The Prince's Trust, UK
Prince's Trust logo
The Prince's Trust, UK

Since 2019, Boots UK has worked in partnership with The Prince’s Trust* to empower the next generation. Together, they support young people in communities across the UK get into work by providing opportunities that help young people develop their skills, confidence and self-esteem, regardless of background. To date, the partnership has supported over 500 young people through employability programs, including Kickstart, Get Into and World of Work programs. Boots UK and their customers have also raised over £2 million ($2,431,000) for The Prince’s Trust since the start of the partnership.

*The Prince's Trust will be renamed to The King's Trust.

Susan G. Komen, U.S.
Susan G Komen
Susan G. Komen, U.S.

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

Macmillan Cancer Support, UK
MacMillian Sun Safety tips poster
Macmillan Cancer Support, UK

In fiscal 2023, Boots UK raised a total of £730,000 ($887,000) for Macmillan Cancer Support. Now in its 14th year, Boots UK’s partnership with Macmillan Cancer Support has raised almost £22 million ($27 million) to support people living with cancer, including funding a Macmillan nurse for a year. We have over 2,600 specially trained Boots Macmillan Information Pharmacists (BMIPs) who are now accessible through selected pharmacy stores.

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, U.S.
Leukemia & Lymphoma Soceity logo
The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, U.S.

For the ninth year, Walgreens team members participated in the annual LLS Light The Night fundraising events. These events took place in markets across the U.S. with more than 5,000 team members uniting to celebrate those who are fighting blood cancers and honoring those we have lost.

In partnership with LLS, Walgreens has 77 LLS-certified blood cancer pharmacies as of Aug. 31, 2023, with specially-trained pharmacists helping patients manage side effects and adhere to medications.
 

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

We celebrated Red Nose Day for the ninth consecutive year as the exclusive retailer of the nationwide campaign to help end the cycle of childhood poverty. Red Nose Day has raised more than $365 million since launching in the U.S. in 2015. Of that total, Walgreens has raised $200 million. The campaign impacted the lives of 32 million children.

Get a Shot. Give a Shot., Global
Walgreens bandage
Get a Shot. Give a Shot., Global

Since 2013, together with the United Nation Foundation (UNF) Shot@ Life campaign, we have helped provide over 93 million lifesaving measles and polio vaccines to children around the world. For every vaccination administered at Walgreens and Duane Reade pharmacies and clinics, the value of a vaccine is donated up to the donation maximum of $2.6 million per year. WBA is on track to meet its goal of 100 million vaccinations by fiscal 2024.

Irish Cancer Society
Irish Cancer Society
Irish Cancer Society

Boots has worked in partnership with the Irish Cancer Society since 2012, with the aim of increasing awareness, helping support people affected by cancer and promoting cancer prevention. Every year, we hold the Boots Night Walk in support of the Irish Cancer Society’s Night Nurses, and this year, the walk raised over $108,000 equating to 276 nights of care. Boots also supports the Irish Cancer Society during its biggest fundraising initiative which sees thousands of volunteers selling Daffodil Day merchandise, with Boots stores also selling Daffodil Day pins. In fiscal 2023, Boots helped raise $135,000 for the Irish Cancer Society's Daffodil Day.

EORTC
EORTC logo
European Organisation For Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC)

EORTC is an independent, non-governmental, non-profit cancer research organization. Over the past decade, WBA has supported EORTC in building and developing the SPECTA platform into the leading pan-European translational research infrastructure. In October 2022, we announced the next phase of our partnership with EORTC, which is a goal to raise €1.8 million ($1,906,000) in support of the E²RADIatE platform, aimed at defining optimal radiation oncology treatment strategies and interventions that can become the new standard of care for patients through the performance of clinical trials.

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.: 

2023 highlights
Medication disposal icon

Nearly 1.5K

Safe medication disposal kiosks in Walgreens locations

Take home safe medication disposal kits icon

2.4M+

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

Unwanted medication disposal icon

576 metric tonnes

Unwanted medications safely disposed of in fiscal 2023

Metric tonnes icon

2468 metric tonnes

Unwanted medications safely disposed of since 2016

Lifesaving opioid overdose Narcan spray

In fiscal 2023, Walgreens announced it is taking an important step to increase access to and education around naloxone by announcing that over-the-counter (OTC) NARCAN® Nasal Spray will be available at Walgreens stores and online starting on Sept. 5, 2023, with nationwide availability on Sept. 7. To educate the public on how to use this lifesaving nasal spray, Walgreens is working with End Overdose, a non-profit organization dedicated to ending drug-related overdose deaths through education, medical intervention and public awareness.