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Baxter (NYSE:BAX) announced today that it expanded its partnership with The Links to improve awareness and resources related to kidney health.

An international not-for-profit organization, The Links will join Baxter to bring awareness to the disproportionate challenges affecting Black Americans related to kidney health.

Deerfield, Illinois-based Baxter is committing an incremental $800,000 in funding to The Links, specifically targeted toward expanding the program’s footprint to additional areas with a high prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

According to a news release, the latest $800,000 investment from Baxter brings the company’s cumulative contributions to The Links to $1.4 million over two years. Baxter and The Links joined forces in 2021 to create intervention-based programs focused on the prevention, detection, and management of CKD.

Baxter said that, during the inaugural program year in The Links Central region, 36 local chapters engaged with more than 260 area healthcare professionals and over 500 community partners including faith-based organizations, civic leaders and other influential community advocates, providing more than 51,000 community members with kidney health awareness and education resources.

Community events like a free kidney screening hosted by The Links’ Chicago-based chapter brought abnormal results for 36% of screening participants, who were then able to meet with an onsite physician to receive tips and educational materials around kidney health.

“Our momentum with The Links has been powerful. By focusing on one health condition and partnering with trusted community members to help educate and inform, we’ve been able to provide important awareness and resources for kidney health,” said Guillermo Amezcua, GM of Baxter’s U.S. renal business. “We are taking our learnings from the first year combined with strategic funding to broaden the impact of this partnership in existing locations while also expanding our reach to new communities.”

According to the company (citing the CDC), Black adults in the United States are three times more likely to develop kidney failure than their white counterparts, with the COVID-19 pandemic compounding issues by adding challenges to the fold.

The partnership includes the Black Kidney Awareness, Resources and Education (K.A.R.E) toolkit, which was developed by The National Kidney Foundation of Illinois, focuses on the unique barriers facing the Black community and incorporates patient, clinician, clinical, and systemic factors contributing to the disproportionate disparities Black Americans face in healthcare and provides actionable tips and guidance for improving kidney heath and effectively managing kidney disease.

“The Links, Incorporated has been able to provide impactful service all over the world because of the passion and dedication of our members. They reached out to colleagues, neighbors, families and friends about this critically important issue that affects overall health and wellness,” said Ethel Isaacs Williams, national president of The Links. “With the Black K.A.R.E. program, we are able to bring awareness of kidney health to the forefront and encourage meaningful dialogue in a way that helps combat a major chronic health disparity that persists in Black communities.”

Filed Under: Business/Financial News, Dialysis Tagged With: Baxter

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