Lutheran World Relief removes toothpaste from health kits for safety precaution

Baltimore, July 17, 2007 — Lutheran World Relief announced this week that, effective immediately, toothpaste should no longer be included in LWR health kits assembled and donated by Lutherans throughout the U.S.

Recent reports from the Food and Drug Administration (www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/hottopics/toothpaste.html) about the safety of some imported toothpastes, which have been found to contain toxic chemicals, as well as concerns about the expiration dates associated with toothpaste, prompted LWR's decision to remove toothpaste from the health kit contents as a safety precaution. Donors of health kits are asked to stop including toothpaste in the kits, to remove the toothpaste from any kits they have already assembled, and to mark their boxes "Health Kits — No Toothpaste" before delivering the kits to an LWR ingathering or warehouse.

Instead, LWR plans to purchase toothpaste in bulk to be distributed alongside the health kits when shipped overseas. This move will allow greater control over the safety and quality of the toothpaste provided.

"We felt it was essential that we take this step," said LWR president John Nunes. "We want to be absolutely sure that we are not compromising the safety of any recipients of our health kits."

LWR has also implemented a plan to remove toothpaste from the health kits that are already in the warehouse inventory and destroy any expired or potentially unsafe tubes. LWR is exploring options for donating the usable toothpaste.

Health kits, a central component of LWR's material resources program, contain basic health and hygiene items and are often used in refugee camp settings and after natural disasters to ensure that people are able to maintain personal hygiene during difficult times. Last year LWR distributed more than 130,000 health kits to disaster survivors and refugees in 11 countries. The kits are assembled by U.S. Lutherans and distributed internationally through LWR and its network of partner organizations.

Partner organizations overseas that have received health kit shipments during the last six months will be notified of the new guidelines and asked to confirm that they have removed toothpaste from any kits to be distributed to recipients.

"Toothpaste is an important component of the health kit, both for oral hygiene purposes as well as an emotional benefit," said Trevor Knoblich, LWR's material resources coordinator. "Toothpaste will help provide comfort and dignity to those who receive a health kit, and ensuring dignity is part of LWR's mission."

To offset the costs of purchasing new toothpaste, LWR is seeking donations to its Project Comfort Fund, the fund designated for costs associated with processing and shipping material resources, including quilts, health kits, school kits, layettes, and sewing kits. To make a donation to the Project Comfort Fund, please visit www.lwr.org/giving; call 1-800-LWR-LWR2 (597-5972); or mail a check marked "Project Comfort Fund" to: Lutheran World Relief, P.O. Box 17061, Baltimore, MD 21298-9832.

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