Johnson & Johnson goes all out to fight against epidemic

It was 9pm, January 22, one day before the Spring Festival holiday.

Wang Donghua, a Johnson & Johnson China employee in Wuhan, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, received a message from Will Song, chairman of Johnson & Johnson China. 

“Donghua, hope you and your family are well. We learnt the front-line hospitals urgently need protective gear, so the company decided to donate medical supplies to support the doctors and nurses. Can you please help facilitate the donation efforts as soon as possible? All the best.”

Wang didn’t hesitate. As a Wuhan resident, an employee of a world-leading healthcare company and husband of the head nurse in a Wuhan hospital, he had long been thinking about what he could do. 

On the next morning, Wang contacted local hospitals and charity foundations, jumping on the role as volunteer-in-chief for Johnson & Johnson to help combat the epidemic. In the following weeks, he was joined by 11 more employee-volunteers and supported the transportation of multiple batches of donations from Johnson & Johnson to designated hospitals in Wuhan.

“It may be risky to go to the hospitals in the middle of epidemic, but when doctors tell me how we have solved their pressing needs, it’s all worth it,” said Wang.

Wang and his fellow volunteers were part of the Johnson & Johnson family to help combat the outbreak. Since late January, the company has been closely monitoring the epidemic situation and leveraged its global resources and healthcare expertise to help address the needs from the front line. So far, the company has donated capital, medical devices, medicines, consumer products and protective medical supplies, with a total value of more than 30 million yuan (US$4.31 million), to support front-line healthcare professionals as well as local communities in Hubei and other provinces in China.

“As a leading healthcare company rooted in China for 35 years, Johnson & Johnson stands with the Chinese people in this battle,” Song said.“We take it as our responsibility to serve doctors and nurses, patients and consumers, and to support our employees and communities.”

Johnson & Johnson was among the first multinational healthcare companies to take actions. As early as January 23, the company donated 1 million yuan to the China Red Cross Foundation for purchasing protective gear. With business across medical devices, pharmaceuticals and consumer health, it then followed up to donate its medical devices, as well as fever and anti-depression drugs, sanitizers, mouthwash, hand cream and contact lenses, serving the medical and daily needs of front-line healthcare professionals and local communities.

Leveraging its global reach and local resources, Johnson & Johnson has also sourced for protective medical supplies. The donations, including multiple batches of masks, protective suits and goggles, are being transported to hospitals in Hubei and other impacted areas in China.

With a proven track record of fighting existing and emerging epidemics, Johnson & Johnson has been working broadly with global partners, including the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority under the US Department of Health & Human Services, to accelerate the development of a vaccine candidate and to screen a library of antiviral therapies, bringing hope of finding a solution against the epidemic for communities in greatest need in China and around the world.

Currently, all nine of Johnson & Johnson plants in China have resumed operation to ensure the supply of critical products for patients and consumers.

“The epidemic will be over and will not change the promising prospects of the long-term development of the Chinese market,” Song said. “China is one of the most important markets for our global business and we remain confident that over the long run, we will achieve high-speed, high-quality development driven by innovation. Johnson & Johnson will continue to do everything we can to support epidemic relief and help build a healthy China into a healthy future.”