'Help is Here Express' Prescription Bus Tour Comes to Salem June 13th

`Help is Here Express` in Oregon to Help Educate People about Patient Assistance Programs; More than 2.3 Million Nationally Already Benefiting From Program.

(SALEM) - Needy Oregonians who have limited access to prescription medications are invited next week to jump on board the `Help is Here Express," a traveling education center making its way across the country to raise awareness and educate the public about patient assistance programs.

The bus is a part of the Partnership for Prescription Assistance (PPA), a growing national program to help patients access prescription medicines. The `Help is Here Express" will make stops in Portland, Salem, Eugene and Medford from June 12 to June 15th. The `Help is Here Express" is making a stop in Salem to offer help to anyone who is having trouble affording their prescription medicine. Patients attending should bring a list of their current medications.

Since its launch in April 2005, the program -- sponsored by America`s pharmaceutical research companies working with doctors, pharmacists, health care providers and community groups -- has matched more than 2.3 million patients nationally, and more than 31,000 right here in Oregon. `The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is changing thousands of lives everyday," said PhRMA President and CEO Billy Tauzin. `No one's helped by a medicine that sits on the shelf and is out of reach financially.

The Partnership for Prescription Assistance is matching the people of Oregon who are uninsured or underinsured, to patient assistance programs that may help them get the medicines they need for free or nearly free. We will keep coming back to Oregon as long as there are people who need our help." Through its toll-free number (1-888-4PPA-NOW) and user-friendly web site (www.pparx.org), the Partnership for Prescription Assistance is the only program that provides a single point of access to more than 475 public and private patient assistance programs, including more than 180 programs offered by pharmaceutical companies.

The `Help Is Here Express" is equipped with computer terminals and phones to make it easy for patients to learn about the assistance programs onsite. More than 70 national groups, including the American Academy of Family Physicians, Easter Seals, National Alliance for Hispanic Health, National Urban League, United Way of America, as well as a fast-growing list of state and local organizations, are working with America`s pharmaceutical companies to spread the word about the program.

`The �Help is Here Express` is an innovative way to increase awareness of a program that can benefit the millions of people who cannot afford their prescription medicines.

I encourage anyone who is having trouble paying for their medicines to call the toll-free number and find out if you may qualify for one of the hundreds of assistance programs offered by the Partnership for Prescription Assistance," said Sue Sumpter, R.N. of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Oregon and Southwest Washington.

To find out if there are patient assistance programs that may meet their needs, patients should call toll-free 1-888-4PPA-NOW (1-888-477-2669) to speak with a trained specialist, visit www.pparx.org, or visit the following Salem `Help is Here Express" event: