Sunday Times, South Africa - January 23, 2000
Ranjeni Munusamy
Bristol-Myers Squibb launched the "Secure the Future" initiative with a 100-million (over R600-million) commitment to help women and children with HIV/AIDS in five southern African countries - Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland and South Africa.
The programme provides grants for medical research focusing on women and children with AIDS, helps non-governmental and community-based organisations to meet the demand for services such as orphan and home care, and funds AIDS education initiatives.
The director of Secure the Future's Community Outreach and Education Fund, Phangisile Mtshali, said because KwaZuluNatal had the fastest-growing infection rate in the region, partnerships between the public and private sector were critical.
She said the fund has been inundated with applications for grants from various AIDS organisations in the province.
"We have been liaising with a number of interested parties and we now want to link up with other business corporations which share the same vision and who want to make some contribution to the fight against HIV/AIDS.
"It is our corporate responsibility to show other businesses that we can do something and to encourage them to become involved. Business houses have immense human and financial resources at their disposal and it takes certain expertise to run a successful operation.
"We are also seeking solutions to a range of problems all the time in the business environment. All of these things can be put to good use to seek innovative and costeffective ways to help in the fight against the disease," she added.
Bristol-Myers Squibb is also one of the major sponsors of the 13th International AIDS Conference, which will be held in Durban in July.
To ensure that Secure the Future meets the needs of the five participating countries, two advisory boards, made up of local and international HIV/AIDS experts, have been formed.
The HIV/AIDS Research Advisory Board comprises representatives of major schools of medicine in southern Africa, including the chairman of the AIDS conference and head of paediatrics at the Natal Medical School, Professor Hoosen Coovadia.
This board will advise the Bristol-Myers Squibb HIV/AIDS Research Institute on the development of model programmes for controlling the disease with the limited resources available in the five countries.
The Community Outreach and Education Advisory Board comprises a cross-section of professionals involved in community care and support, as well as public health institutions.
The board will guide the Community Outreach and Education Fund to strengthen the capacity of NGOs and CBOs working with women and children infected with HIV.
Mtshali said Bristol-Myers Squibb had joined the Partnership Against AIDS, which was launched by the South African Government, and would work with the Department of Health to carry out Secure the Future's mission to help women and children with AIDS.
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