Lilly celebrated National Volunteer Week by sending off the first of 200 volunteers of 2013 who will serve in impoverished communities around the world as part of Lilly’s Connecting Hearts Abroad program. Teams departed on Sunday for Lima, Peru, and will depart for Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, this weekend—with more soon to follow.

I had the opportunity to go to India through this program and it forever changed the way I look at the world, my job, even my family.

Through Connecting Hearts Abroad, we are not only helping people in need, we are growing as people and helping Lilly become a more globally aware and stronger company. It gets us out of the labs and out from behind our computers so that we can better understand and meet the diverse needs of patients and communities around the world...

The world is almost polio free! Polio now exists in only three countries – Pakistan, Afghanistan and Nigeria. Thanks to the advocacy efforts of organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and ONE, the world is that much closer to completely eradicating this disease. Watch this powerful video from ONE.

The last time a child was paralyzed in the Americas was over 20 years ago. Lilly is proud to have played a role by helping manufacture the vaccine that enabled polio to be virtually eradicated in the United States by the early 1960s. Lilly’s role, including that of two special employees portrayed in the video below, is featured in a living history portrayal at the Indiana Historical Society...

Society’s expectations are rising for the private sector, and this is especially true for companies such as Lilly who are entrusted with public health. Organizations not only must excel at what they do, but how they do it.

Two recent rankings place Lilly in good company with other reputable corporate citizens across the globe...

With the impact of Superstorm Sandy still resonating, and the 2013 hurricane and tornado seasons looming, now is a good time to remind people of the importance of emergency preparedness. For people with diabetes or other medical issues, advanced planning could save their lives.

Lilly Diabetes is partnering with the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) to emphasize emergency planning for people with diabetes at the National Hurricane Conference this week. A recent press release explains how Lilly Diabetes and ACE joined forces to create the “My Diabetes Emergency Plan” program after seeing the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina in 2005...

In recognition of World TB Day on March 24, Financial Times produced a special report on Combating TB, "a disease that kills nearly 1.5 million people a year and infects nine million, including 600,000 with drug-resistant strains that are particularly difficult to fight." (Note: FT requires sign in to view articles)

The report included an article by Andrew Jack where he talks about how TB is the most "neglected" of the three diseases supported by the Global Fund to Fight Aids, TB and Malaria, the world’s biggest multilateral funder of health programs, "yet it spreads far more easily around the world than either HIV or malaria, with drug-resistant strains rising fast."

Dr. Evan Lee, head of The Lilly MDR-TB Partnership, was quoted in the article on improving healthcare provider training – one of the key areas of focus of our TB partnership. "The doctor is the general on the hill but nurses are much closer to the frontline where the action is and could play a much more important role, in counseling, patient support and early identification of side effects,” he noted...