BotiCARD, Generika Drugstore forge partnership to hasten relief ops

A faster distribution of medicines to the microfinance clients of CARD Mutually Reinforcing Institutions (CARD MRI) in times of disasters is seen as BotiCARD and the Generika Drugstore signed a partnership on August 9, 2018 at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Makati City.

“This partnership will significantly hasten the disaster response of CARD MRI in general. In areas where BotiCARD is not present and the needs for medicine supplies are high, the Generika Drugstore will be our counterpart in quickly responding to the needs of our clients and staff,” said Rosenda Aquino, president of BotiCARD.

The BotiCARD is the pharmacy of CARD MRI, a group of 21 development-oriented organizations that aims to eradicate poverty through microfinance, microinsurance, education, and health, among others.

Generika Drugstore, a pharmacy that offers quality affordable generic medicine same with BotiCARD, has a growing network of over 770 stores nationwide. According to its President and CEO Dino Francisco, the collaboration hopes to serve more Filipinos by providing quality and affordable healthcare nationwide.

“BotiCARD and Generika Drugstore share the same social purpose and we look forward that this partnership would impact to more people nationwide,” added Francisco, emphasizing the more than 5.4 million outreach of CARD MRI nationwide.

The disaster response program is one of the community-based social development initiatives of CARD MRI for its clients nationwide. “Poverty eradication is not achieved by solely providing microfinance services. We also have to look into the health of our clients especially in times of disaster. That is why, we, at CARD MRI, continue to partner with like-minded organizations that could further advance our cause,” said Dr. Jaime Aristotle Alip, founder, and chair of CARD MRI.

Making use of technology

The partnership also explored how CARD MRI can maximize the MEDPadala of Generika Drugstore. The MEDPadala is an electronic gift certificate that serves to purchase medicines at any Generika Drugstore branch nationwide.

“By using MEDPadala, we can ensure that the money we send to our loved ones for their medicine needs will be spent accordingly,” shared Francisco. “The MEDPadala is paperless; hence, all you need to do is send the PIN code you receive via e-mail upon purchase of e-gift certificate to your loved ones in the Philippines,” he added.

MEDPadala can also be accessed by Filipinos working abroad.

“As CARD MRI journeys to digitization, this initiative is a welcome development on our side. We will start reinforcing this to our staff nationwide, especially for those whose families are residing in an area where no BotiCARD is available,” said Flordeliza Sarmiento, managing director of CARD MRI.

Since accessing the MEDPadala site is open for all, the benefit of this for CARD MRI is the discount that can be availed by its staff and clients.

“With the partnership, we are happy to announce that all CARD MRI clients and staff are entitled of discounts every time they will buy an e-gift certificate or generic medicines directly in our drugstore outlets,” said Francisco.

The staff and microfinance clients of the four financial institutions of CARD MRI – the CARD, Inc., CARD Bank, CARD SME Bank, and CARD MRI Rizal Bank, can avail discounts for their purchase of generic medicines.

The president and chief executive of AC Health, Paolo Borromeo, also expressed his appreciation for the partnership made. “Our vision is to provide seamless healthcare experience for our clients nationwide and this partnership is already one of the many ways to make it happen,” added Borromeo. Generika Drugstore is AC Health’s retail pharmacy network.

Given the bulk of orders in the past disaster response efforts of BotiCARD, Borromeo emphasized that the Generika Drugstore will be reinforcing its operations to be able to cope up with the demand. “We are firm to deliver our services on time. We will do this for the people who patiently wait for healthcare assistance in times of uncertainties,” Borromeo concluded.