On the eve of World AIDS Day, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company announced the next phase of Secure The Future with the allocation of six new program grants totaling $30 million. These grants are part of the ongoing $115 million commitment made by Bristol-Myers Squibb and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation as part of the Secure The Future initiative, the first significant and largest corporate commitment to fight HIV/AIDS in Africa. The program focuses on sub-Saharan Africa, where nearly 70 percent of people infected with HIV/AIDS worldwide and 80 per cent of the children live.
"Secure The Future is establishing a new paradigm for combating the AIDS pandemic in Africa," said Dr Pearl Ntsekhe, director, disease control division, Lesotho Ministry of Health and Social Welfare. "The unique approach of offering both community and medical services is critically important to efforts to stem the devastation of this disease."
"Through Secure The Future, Bristol-Myers Squibb is helping to lead the global fight against the HIV/AIDS pandemic," said Peter R. Dolan, chairman and chief executive officer, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "This is one of the greatest human tragedies of all time, and while making a substantial financial commitment is critically important, we have gone beyond that. Our program has pioneered the development of public-private partnerships that are benefiting the hardest-hit populations in Africa, especially women and children."
Secure The Future is a five-year initiative to support projects that help women and children affected and infected by HIV/AIDS. To date, the initiative has provided grants totaling $96 million, including this new allocation, to more than 150 programs in nine countries in southern and western Africa. The goal is to develop sustainable models in resource-limited settings for community outreach and education, as well as medical research and care. The program's focus has been to address the region's most significant needs including local training and support for community-based initiatives, building internal resources and infrastructure and implementing modern science within a local context.
The six new grants will fund programs at community and medical centers that incorporate key learnings from other Secure The Future programs. The new programs will be launched in Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, as well as South Africa the area of the world most devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
Secure The Future programs are guided by unique partnerships between Bristol-Myers Squibb, national ministries of health, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), community-based medical and educational organizations, and faith-based organizations (FBOs). Through these partnerships, Secure The Future focuses on supporting rural communities challenged with limited resources and with needs that have not been addressed by other programs.
"The relationships we forged through Secure The Future are as important as the funds we received," said Reverend Edward Baralemwa, executive secretary, Pan African Christian AIDS Network (PACANet). "Our partners helped us with process and procedure improvements, they showed us how to achieve our objectives better and they enhanced the well-being of our entire organization."
The newly issued grants support programs that reflect the best examples of this partnership model. One program will support a partnership program in the isolated Caprivi region of Namibia with a focus on prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. The program will establish support group networks and nutrition services and provide care through a new voluntary counseling and testing center.
Another new Secure The Future grant that also is designed to help address the problem of mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Swaziland will mobilize people through door-to-door outreach and build infrastructure through a community initiative that includes volunteers, buddies/mentors and community-based activities.
Another Secure The Future grant will fund the country of Lesotho's first center to provide an antiretroviral therapy program in the Maseru district. The aim is to deliver equitable access to quality care and support.
"Bristol-Myers Squibb understands that developing and providing antiviral drugs are only part of the formula for success in changing the course of the AIDS pandemic in Africa," said John McGoldrick, executive vice president, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "Secure The Future seeks to provide medical treatment to resource-limited communities as well as to educate people on ways to prevent further transmission of the virus and provide support to those infected and affected by the disease."