Pfizer Inc and the Pfizer Foundation have designed new and expanded initiatives to address the growing threat to human health posed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. On the second anniversary of their innovative Diflucan Partnership Program, Pfizer and the South African Ministry of Health have concluded an agreement to extend the program indefinitely. Now operating in 12 African nations and Haiti, the program provides free doses of the anti-fungal drug Diflucan to treat cryptococcal meningitis and oesophageal candidiasis, two life-threatening opportunistic infections associated with HIV/AIDS.
Since the program launched in South Africa two years ago, Pfizer has distributed over 1.5 million free doses of Diflucan, processed more than 50,000 prescriptions and trained over 10,000 health professionals in 317 hospitals. Pfizer is committed to expanding the program to the world's least developed nations with the highest incidence of HIV/AIDS.
The Diflucan Partnership Program recently won the National Corporate Social Investment Award for the best contribution to Primary Healthcare in South Africa from Professional Management Review, a publication that recognises corporate and government initiatives in Southern Africa.
Pfizer will also launch a new Employee HIV/AIDS Education and Awareness program on World AIDS Day. The goals of the program are to help employees better understand the HIV/AIDS pandemic, increase their understanding of HIV/AIDS issues, expand employee awareness of Pfizer's actions in the fight against HIV/AIDS and equip employees with useful resources so that they can make individual contributions to the world's most pressing health challenge.
The program will disseminate statistics on the spread of HIV/AIDS on a global basis and in the United States, answer questions about the disease and work-related issues and guide human resources responses to HIV-related questions from employees. Local, national and global employee communications vehicles will continue to provide stories and information on various HIV-related topics throughout the year and Pfizer's intranet resource centre will be continuously updated to include information on new Pfizer HIV/AIDS programs, volunteer opportunities and useful links.
Finally, the Pfizer Foundation announced the award of $1.8 million to twelve organisations through its new International HIV/AIDS Health Literacy Grants Program. These partner organisations are conducting innovative HIV/AIDS health literacy programs in countries hardest hit by HIV/AIDS. The initiative was designed in partnership with Pfizer Inc to compliment the Diflucan Partnership Program.
The goal of the Pfizer Foundation's International HIV/AIDS Health Literacy Grants program is to strengthen existing health promotion programs and/or develop new programs to improve patients' and communities' understanding of their health, self management of health, treatment adherence and quality of life.
The Pfizer Foundation also supported Doctors of the World in the development of educational materials to accompany Pandemic: Facing AIDS, a documentary film produced by Rory Kennedy that focuses on the stories of people living with HIV/AIDS in Brazil, India, Russia, Thailand and Uganda. The film goes beyond the horrifying statistics and provides a moving account of the human tragedy of the disease.
The goal of the film is to strengthen US support of HIV/AIDS programs around the world. The film debuted at the Barcelona World AIDS Conference in July 2002 and recently, at the United Nations for World AIDS Day 2002.
The Pfizer Foundation Inc is an independent charitable foundation established by Pfizer Inc in 1953. The Foundation's mission is to promote access to quality health care and education, to nurture innovation and to support the community involvement of Pfizer people. The Pfizer Foundation is committed to a comprehensive approach to combat the devastating HIV/AIDS pandemic.