First Data Western Union Foundation supports Women's Wellness Center in Kharkiv (09/28/03)

First Data Western Union Foundation supports Women's Wellness Center in Kharkiv

DENVER - The First Data Western Union Foundation, which is the corporate foundation for First Data Corp., has made a U.S. $150,000 donation to help fund Carelift International's Women's Wellness Center in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

The center will officially open in 2004 with a staff of more than 40 - including 18 physicians, who will be able to treat 250 patients every day.

The grant from the First Data Western Union Foundation, the largest it has given in Europe, will contribute to:

improving women's health through health promotion and education, early diagnosis of disease, treatment, and follow-up care;
providing the equipment and training to diagnose diseases such as cervical cancer and monitor women during pregnancy; and
supplying essential materials and waste management to curb the spread of disease.

The Kharkiv Wellness Center is a replication of a center Carelift opened in Kyiv in March, and responds to the rising incidence of antenatal problems, infant mortality and breast cancer in Ukraine. Over the past two decades, breast cancer cases have increased by 70 percent.

Carelift International, the First Data Western Union Foundation and the Ukrainian Ministry of Transportation are bringing new hope to women in Ukraine. Since the launch of the Women's Wellness Center in Kyiv, more than 7,000 Ukrainian women have benefited from the services offered thanks to Carelift International's dedication.

Peter Hnatiuk, regional director for Western Union in Ukraine, said. "After witnessing the amazing success of Carelift's Women's Wellness Center in Kyiv, and the huge number of patients benefiting from it, Western Union is committed to increasing women's access to vital medical facilities in Kharkiv."

Luella Chavez D'Angelo, executive director for First Data Western Union Foundation, added, "By providing this grant to Carelift International we hope to help maintain good health among Ukrainian women and their children. In a small way, our organizations are together helping to boost the health of a nation as a whole."

Jeff Gloss, chairman of Carelift International, said, "The Ukrainian doctors we have met work with their heads, hands, and hearts. But as talented and caring as they are, they often lack the most basic tools that enable them to save lives. We look forward to our partnership with Western Union, which will help us bring hope, health, and healing to these doctors and their patients."

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