Table Of Contents

Instructions for IRL Letters

If you can’t send a letter, we can send it for you! Just fill out this form.

Here's some instructions for help with sending your letter!

  1. Write your letter.
    1. You can choose to write a formal business letter based off of one of our templates and print it, write a handwritten letter, or get creative with a card or drawing.
    2. We hope that Danaher will read at least some of our letters, but can’t be sure. However, we’d love for you to share what you write on social media! If you are, remember to take a picture before you seal your envelope in the next step.
  2. Put your letter in an envelope.
    1. You can usually buy envelopes at the post office or office supply store, but most grocery stores and drug stores will have options as well. Envelopes typically aren’t sold individually, so check to see if you have one at home if you don’t want to end up with a box.
    2. Neatly fold your letter and seal it in the envelope.
  3. Address your envelope.

    1. To address your letter to Danaher’s board write this on the front of your envelope (the side without a flap) in the center:

      c/o Corporate Secretary

      Danaher Corporation

      2200 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.

      Suite 800W

      Washington, D.C. 20037-1701

      USA

    2. If you'd like to address it to an individual member of the board, here’s some important members you can pick from. Add your selection on top of the line “c/o Corporate Secretary” in the address above.

      1. Rainer Blair President and CEO of Danaher, whose pay has more than doubled since 2020, now at $20 million per year.
      2. The founders, Steven and Mitchell Rales
      3. Other members of the board: Dr. Pardis Sabeti (past Crash Course host), Dr. Jessica Mega, Professor Raymond Stevens, and Dr. Elias Zerhouni (former Gates Foundation fellow).

    Example Letter

    An example letter.
  4. Optional: Add your return address.
    1. Return addresses are not required for standard mail in the US. If you don’t want to use your address, feel free to omit it. We do recommend including a return address if you’re comfortable to make it seem more legitimate.

    2. To add a return address, write it in the top left corner of the front of the envelope. Here’s the format for US addresses:

      Alexander Hamilton

      58 Partition Street

      New York, NY 10038


      If you don’t know your zip code (10038 in this example), you can find it by googling the rest of your address.
  5. Add postage.
    1. In the US, normal letter postage stamps (also called Forever Stamps) cost $0.68 right now. You can buy stamps at your local post office or buy them online from USPS. Stamps are also available at some grocery stores, gas stations, and pharmacies, usually at the register.
    2. A standard $0.68 forever stamp can mail up to one ounce, or about four sheets of paper plus an envelope. If you’re mailing more sheets or heavier paper, you may need additional postage. Ask for help at the Post Office counter.
    3. If you are mailing a letter from outside the US, you may need to buy an international stamp. Check your local postal service for details.
    4. Affix your stamp to the upper right corner of the front of the envelope.
  6. Mail your letter!
    1. Option 1: If you live in a house with a mailbox at the curb, you can just put your letter in your mailbox and raise the flag.
    2. Option 2: If you live in an apartment building or shared housing complex, there may be an outgoing mail slot in the mailbox area.
    3. Option 3: Go to your local post office. Most will have a letter slot or dropbox you can use without talking to anyone. You can also walk up to the counter and ask for help.
    4. Option 4: Find a local USPS collection box by searching for your address here.
  7. Optional: Post your letter on social media and tag Danaher.
    1. Use the tag #PeopleOverProfits or #TimeFor5 in your post!


Letter Templates

These templates are easiest to base your letters off if you're planning on printing them out. Feel free to keep handwritten letters shorter!


Option 1

[Date]

To the Board of Directors, Danaher Corporation,


I’m reaching out to you out of concern for the millions of people living with dangerous diseases who do not receive a diagnosis. Your GeneXpert machines can diagnose Ebola, HIV, extensively drug-resistant TB, hepatitis, and many common sexually transmitted infections, but they are out of reach to the people who need them most because of unreasonably high prices.


Independent research has shown that you can make a fair profit at $5, which would allow governments and organizations to scale up testing, but these tests currently cost $15-$20, too expensive for many who need them. Millions of people continue to die of treatable diseases but your tests could help change that.


I urge you to continue showing your commitment to putting people over profits by lowering all your tests to $5 and helping save millions of lives.


I look forward to working with you as we help to bring an end to the terrible impact tuberculosis and drug-resistant tuberculosis have on people living outside of high-income countries.


Regards,

[Your name]



Option 2

[Date]

To the Board of Directors, Danaher Corporation:


As you know, tuberculosis (TB) is one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world, killing 1.3 million people in 2022. Many people and organizations around the world have been working to help put an end to that horrifying statistic, and your tests are a crucial part of it. Lowering the price of your MTB/RIF tests is a massive step in the right direction, allowing millions more people to quickly and accurately get tested for TB and rifampin resistance, but that alone is not enough.


In 2022, around 410,000 people developed a form of drug-resistant TB, but only about 2 in 5 were diagnosed and given appropriate treatment. Your Xpert MTB/XDR tests can diagnose resistance to an incredible number of TB drugs, which would allow those people to be quickly and safely treated for the most dangerous forms of TB without unnecessary exposure to toxic and unsafe treatments.


Ebola virus disease can have a fatality rate as high as 90% without effective preventative and supportive care. Xpert Ebola cartridges could help save lives by ensuring quick medical care and allowing people at risk of infection to receive preventative care.


HIV/AIDS continues to affect many people globally, with an estimated 39 million people living with HIV at the end of 2022. 620,000 people died from HIV-related causes in 2022, including the 167,000 people with HIV who died of tuberculosis, emphasizing the need for appropriate HIV prevention and treatment in the fight to end TB, but 14% of people with HIV don’t know their status. Your Xpert tests for HIV allow quick and accurate diagnosis, as well as the ability to assess a person's response to antiretroviral therapy.


Hepatitis is an inflammation of the liver that can be caused by infectious diseases such as hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) which together accounted for 1.11 million deaths in 2019. Though a vaccine is available for HBV prevention, no cure is available and people with infections require lifelong treatment. Effective treatment depends on diagnosing HBV and assessing its severity as early as possible, but only 10.5% of people estimated to be living with the disease were aware of their infection as of 2022. Hepatitis C virus is curable, yet 290,000 people died from it in 2019, partly due to a lack of diagnosis. Xpert cartridges are crucial to a fast and accurate diagnosis of both HBV and HCV, as well as continued monitoring of the diseases.


What do all these diseases have in common? You manufacture fast and effective tests for all of them, and yet they are still underdiagnosed in many low- to middle-income settings. We have the technology to save millions of lives, but at a cost of $15-20 per cartridge, it is prohibitively expensive. Your amazing tests only have the capacity to do good when they’re accessible to those who need them, and charging as much as double the median weekly wage in countries like Sierra Leone is not accessible. With nominal differences in the manufacturing processes between tests it is possible to make a reasonable profit on all of them at a price of $5. Every one of these tests can do an amazing amount of good for the world, but when it’s possible to make a fair and reasonable profit at $5, selling them for $15-20–three to four times that price–prevents them from having that impact.


While I eagerly anticipate the release of transparent information about the cost to produce MTB/RIF cartridges (your baseline TB tests), and greatly appreciate the steps you’ve taken towards more equitable testing, charging people in low- to middle-income countries $15-20 for life-saving diagnostics is not the correct path forward to helping reduce the toll of these curable diseases.


3,600 people are dying because of TB every day. 1,700 people are dying because of HIV every day. 3,000 people are dying because of hepatitis every day. Together we can put an end to the terrible and disproportionate tolls these diseases take on people living outside of high-income countries, but the first step is reasonable pricing for your lifesaving tests.


With best regards,

[Your Name]


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