Santa Barbara, Calif. - As the Census Bureau reports today 15.3 percent of Americans are without health insurance, Direct Relief International is expanding its unique program to provide bulk medicines and supplies to the nation's safety-net, nonprofit clinics and community health centers that serve nearly 7 million individuals who lack healthcare coverage.

"These clinics don't receive a lot of attention in the debate over healthcare, yet are a primary source of healthcare for people who are uninsured, especially those who lose their employer-provided or privately purchased health insurance," said Thomas Tighe, president and CEO of Direct Relief International.

Direct Relief, which currently partners with 1,200 of the nation's more than 7,000 safety-net clinics, is the nation's only nonprofit organization that operates a program to regularly provide, in bulk, basic medicines, supplies, and equipment to treat low-income and uninsured patients. The system is designed to run parallel to government and pharmaceutical company patient assistance programs.

Direct Relief began its domestic aid program in 2004 by providing more than $3 million in support to California clinics. By 2007, Direct Relief's program had grown to include 1,200 nonprofit clinics and community health centers serving approximately 9 million patients.

Direct Relief's partnerships with some of the world's largest pharmaceutical and medical supply companies allowed it to deliver $130 million (wholesale) in medicines and supplies in the U.S., including 6 million prescriptions, since 2004.

Visitors to DirectRelief.org can access an interactive map of Direct Relief's 1,200 partner clinics, and also find a link to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). The map was built using the Google Earth™ mapping service, available to Direct Relief through its partnership with Google, one of hundreds of Direct Relief's corporate donors, which also include Abbott, BD, Boehringer Ingelheim, FedEx, Johnson & Johnson, sanofi-aventis and Schering-Plough.

Direct Relief's assistance has been invaluable to health centers across the country," said Malvise A. Scott, Senior Vice President, Partnership and Resource Development, National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). "The donations free up resources, permitting health centers to increase the number of people served and/or the number of services provided."

"One of the reasons we are proud to partner with Direct Relief International is because it uses cutting-edge technology to efficiently deliver medical aid to the people and places that need it most," said Kathy Zonca, Director, Patient Access & Advocacy, Schering-Plough Corporation. "By utilizing tools like Google Earth™, Direct Relief International is constantly evaluating and identifying populations who can truly benefit from our donations."

About Direct Relief International Founded in 1948, Direct Relief International is a Santa Barbara-based nonprofit organization focused on improving the quality of life by bringing critically needed medicines and supplies to local healthcare providers worldwide. Direct Relief works in 59 countries and has delivered more than $1 billion in privately funded humanitarian medical aid to health professionals serving impoverished communities since 2000. Direct Relief is one of two charities ranked by Forbes that has received a perfect fundraising efficiency score for five consecutive years and is ranked by the Chronicle of Philanthropy as California's largest international nonprofit organization based on private support. For more information, please visit www.DirectRelief.org. ###