Aspen marked World Diabetes Day by highlighting the alarming economic, social, productivity and reduced life expectancy impact that diabetes is having on South Africa
Aspen marked World Diabetes Day by highlighting the alarming economic, social, productivity and reduced life expectancy impact that diabetes is having on South Africa
Aspen and SEMDSA earlier today raised awareness around the alarming rise of non-communicable diseases, particularly diabetes, in recognition of World Diabetes Day.
Johannesburg, South Africa – Aspen Pharmacare Holdings Limited (“Aspen”), a global multinational specialty pharmaceutical company, has presented a state-of-the-art high performance wheelchair to South African wheelchair tennis star Donald Ramphadi. Ramphadi, a French-open double quads champion and a prominent figure in wheelchair tennis, reached his maiden Grand Slam final at the Australian Open Wheelchair Championships in January 2024. He is undeterred by his impaired mobility and his fourth place single quads ranking by the International Tennis Federation is testament to his talent. On the occasion of the presentation, Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen Senior Executive Strategic Trade said, “Aspen is honoured to support Donald Ramphadi ahead of his 2024 season when he takes to international courts to defend his title at the Paris Paralympics in France, among many others. We also laud Donald for his nomination in the 2024 South African Sports Awards’ Sportsman of the Year with a Disability category. In recent years we recognized Donald’s exceptional athletic talent, his unwavering dedication to wheelchair tennis and his dreams of bringing back gold for South Africa. Aspen subsequently facilitated the customisation and provision of a state-of-the-art high performance wheelchair tailored to his unique requirements to assist him in reaching his athletic goals. This action endorses Aspen’s commitment to inclusivity, accessibility, and the empowerment of athletes with disabilities. It is also aligned to our philosophy of embracing sports, arts and culture as powerful unifiers to promote healthy lifestyles and reduce the disease burden on our healthcare system.” An overjoyed Donald Ramphadi said, “I am so grateful for this generous donation from Aspen which is a major boost ahead of the 2024 Paris Paralympics in France. I’ve previously played in matches where I’ve had to retire my lead because of my wheelchair which naturally shattered many dreams. I’m excited about this wheelchair and I’m more determined than ever to up my game and take everything that I can in the upcoming tournaments that I compete in.”
Johannesburg, South Africa – Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s largest pharmaceutical company, has announced continued humanitarian support to Ukraine, confirming further donations of critical care products to treat hospitalized patients who have been impacted by the ongoing conflict in that country. Stavros Nicolaou, Aspen Group Senior Executive Strategic Trade, said, “Aspen is highly sensitised to the human suffering that war and conflict brings and which has had a devastating impact on innocent civilians. We are pleased to announce that we are further extending our support to Ukrainian victims of the present-day conflict with much needed pharmaceutical products and we are in the process of despatching additional supplies of Fraxiparine (for emergency surgeries) and Alkeran (for cancer) to treat patients in Ukrainian hospitals. We remain committed to providing ongoing humanitarian relief to victims of both natural and manmade disasters as may be necessary.” Aspen recently hosted His Excellency, former President of the Ukraine, Viktor Yushchenko during an official visit to South Africa. On this occasion he said, “I am deeply grateful to Aspen for the invaluable humanitarian support provided to the people of Ukraine at this very tragic time. Aspen has helped countless Ukrainians with generous donations of life-saving critical care medicines. Aspen’s ongoing support reaffirms their understanding of the horrors of war, and demonstrates their unwavering care for innocent patients who are in desperate need of pharmaceutical products. I thank Aspen for their contributions to date as well as their commitment to providing more products to treat our patients.” One of the more important initiatives in this humanitarian collaboration with Her Excellency Ambassador and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to South Africa, Liubov Abravoitova, concerns donations of Alkeran primarily used for the treatment of paediatric cancer patients at the Odessa Filatov Institute of Ophthalmology. She said, “We thank Aspen for its solidarity with Ukrainian people and support to Ukraine with donations of life-saving medicines, as well as for its cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine in South African in humanitarian projects.” Aspen’s latest Alkeran donation has been expedited specifically to assist in the treatment of a six year old patient who is at risk of losing her only eye. In March 2022 Aspen dontated life-saving medicines for 62 000 surgeries in Ukraine and also helped to evacuate South African medical students who were stranded in war-torn Ukraine.
Stavros Nicolaou, far left with students who gratefully received Aspen’s donation of computers and tablets. Johannesburg – Aspen Pharmacare, a leading global specialty and branded multinational pharmaceutical company, has donated 25 computers and 30 tablets to Jiyana Secondary School which produced one of the top performing students in Ekurhuleni in 2021. This donation forms part of the “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow” program of the United Nations and involved a collaboration between Aspen, HappiMe and the South African Presidency, where the Ministry of Women and Children is hosted. In March 2022, Aspen also refurbished Jiyana’s computer laboratory and provided additional equipment to enhance learning within this area of the school’s curriculum. These donations exemplify Aspen’s ongoing dedication towards ensuring the empowerment of our youth, women and South Africa’s future leaders. Aspen, together with the HappiMe Foundation, also donated sanitary pads for 894 girls in support of Women’s Month and as part of the Help a Girl Child Pad Drive in a bid to address and assist in combating the prevalent issue of period poverty, which has caused the stigmatisation and associated absence of female scholars. Stavros Nicolaou Aspen Group Senior Executive Strategic Trade said, “Aspen is fully committed to the future of our young people and these donations represent a gateway to quality education and future leadership opportunities. These students already have capable teachers, so providing this additional support will give them a further advantage and assist in prospectively producing additional top achieving students at the end of the academic year. The donation of hygiene products is in line with our key sustainability goals of ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all at all ages, as well as achieving gender equality and empowering women and girls.” Aspen officially handed over the donation together with the Deputy Minister in the Presidency, Ms Thembi Siweya who said, “We want to thank Aspen for this positive gesture and their keen interest in community development. We hope that the school management and learners will look after this equipment and use it to improve the learning outcomes.” Dr Keorapetse Tabane-Hlongwa, founder of the HappiMe Foundation who qualified as the first black medical oncologist in South Africa in 2008, initially approached Aspen to partner with the HappiMe Foundation in their dedicated fight against period poverty. This Foundation strives to provide sanitary towels to girls in disadvantaged communities in order to combat unnecessary school absenteeism. Dr Tabane-Hlongwa said, “We hope to connect with and inspire them, their story echoing ours, having grown up in similar communities as them. We want girls to be reminded that they can, they matter, they are seen, that they are.”
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