The New Year’s Honors List awarded Fergus Drake, CEO of international development nonprofit Crown Agents, an OBE for his role in leading a mobilization that has shipped over 33 million Covid-19 vaccines to the entire population of Ukraine, caring for 88 neonatal centers and maternity hospitals across the country with medicines or medical equipment, and shipped more than 650,000 emergency medicines and equipment to the country’s devastated health system.
Crown Agents, following its long-standing partnership with the ministry over the past 25 years, has integrated staff into Ukraine’s Ministry of Health to drive urgent relief. Additionally, since the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022, Crown Agents have formed dedicated teams to raise funds and procure and ship much-needed health equipment requested by the ministry.
Working with the public and private sectors, foundations and philanthropists, Crown Agents has sourced and delivered the following emergency aid to hospitals and health workers:
• over 350,000 medicines
• 97,000 Trauma Kits
• 153,000 medical devices
• 50,000 food parcels
• 36,000 hygiene kits
• 400 oxygen concentrators
• 192 generators
• 91 incubators for premature babies
Fergus Drake, CEO of Crown Agents said:
“I am deeply humbled and grateful to be included in the 2023 New Year’s Honors List. I would like to dedicate this award to the incredibly brave and inspiring team of Crown Agents in Ukraine, London and around the world. They have been working tirelessly since the outbreak of war, often without electricity or running water, to bring life-saving drugs and medical equipment into the country. I would also like to thank our partners, the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, the FCDO team of Ukraine and all our donors for their generous support.”
Organizations that have supported the mobilization of Crown Agents include the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), Department of Defense, Pfizer, GSK, UBS, Citi Commercial Bank, AstraZeneca, Permira Foundation, Help Age International, Christian Aid, Jersey Overseas Aid, Save the Children, Russell Reynolds, Direct Relief and many individual foundations and philanthropists.
Fergus Drake has regularly visited Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine and the region, since the beginning of the war to meet with senior officials from the Ministry of Health and to visit hospitals to assess the country’s needs and emergency medical needs.
Crown Agents had already played a crucial role in ensuring the Ukrainian population was vaccinated against Covid-19 before the war, sourcing and shipping Covid-19 vaccines to the entire population before the war.
Its long-term partnership had also seen it reform the country’s drug procurement processes, saving the Department of Health over £55m and working extensively in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. Moving into an emergency mobilization early in the war, it built on its existing infrastructure in Ukraine, reallocating resources to receive assessments, information, action lists, and new and additional rounds of donations to support health needs in emergency situations.
David Richardson, Interim Chairman of the Crown Agents Board, said:
“We are delighted that Fergus has received this award, which recognizes his leadership in providing emergency relief to Crown Agents in Ukraine. Fergus and his team’s agility in supporting the Ukrainian government and people in the face of Russian aggression is built on the long-term partnership approach we take in all our work around the world. Underpinned by the Crown Agents values of courage and integrity, we will continue to work to truly help people in humanitarian crises.”
Note to the editor
Working in 101 countries, Crown Agents reaches 108 million people annually through its emergency health, humanitarian response, supply chain and government strengthening programs.
During its 25 years of operation in Ukraine, Crown Agents has shipped over 539 million units of drugs and medical devices, expanded the supplier base from 3 to 120 in seven years, and reduced the net price of oncology drugs by 45%.
The following high-resolution photos can be downloaded via WeTransfer:
https://wetransfer.com/downloads/240a710187dca674294b0d708104822920221228101339/a65a5f8665e74d0d5206a586408d538820221228101359/5c83b8
1) Fergus Drake headshot
2) Fergus Drake with Tetiana Korotchenko (Crown Agents Country Director Ukraine) with a
transported to Ukraine by 97,000 Medical Trauma Kits
3) Fergus Drake speaking on the BBC about the work of the Crown Agents from Kyiv,
Ukraine
4) The brave and hard working team of Crown Agents Ukraine
5) A doctor and a nurse in the basement of a hospital in Kyiv with a premature baby
Incubator manufactured by a Cambridge start-up and transported by Crown Agents
6) Ukrainian doctors with the mOm incubator
