Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation Marks World AIDS Day with Grants Totaling More than $3.5M for HIV & Cervical & Breast Cancer ...
December 01 2015 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Grants to 16 organizations will strengthen
HIV programs for adolescents and the elderly, support women
co-infected with HIV and cervical or breast cancers and integrate
treatment for co-infection with HIV and tuberculosis
To mark World AIDS Day, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation
today announced 16 grants totaling $3.5 million for programs in
Africa that strengthen HIV services for adolescents and the
elderly, raise awareness and access to health care for women
co-diagnosed with HIV and breast or cervical cancer, and build
community capacity and integrate treatment for HIV/tuberculosis
(TB) co-infection.
The grants, both new and extensions for ongoing programs, were
awarded through the Foundation’s landmark Secure the Future®
initiative, which brings community-based care and support to people
with living with HIV in sub-Saharan Africa. Since its launch in
1999, Secure the Future has awarded more than $183 million in
grants to more than 350 projects.
“The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation joins with our existing and
new partners to continue working toward a world that is free of
HIV,” says John Damonti, president, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Foundation. “Through these grants, the Foundation and its partners
are helping to ensure that HIV-positive youth and the elderly in
Africa continue to receive much-needed care and support, and that
women who are co-infected with HIV and cervical or breast cancer
have information and access to potentially lifesaving screening and
treatment. In addition, given the close correlation between HIV
infection and TB, it is essential that we work with our partners to
continue strengthening community programs and approaches that
integrate both diseases.”
Adolescents and the elderly
Adolescents in Africa often have difficulty accessing treatment
for HIV and other health and psychosocial services. In addition,
stigma and other barriers result in many youth being lost to care
even before beginning treatment or immediately after testing
positive for HIV.
Africa also has a growing population of elderly people who are
HIV-positive as a result of greater access to antiretroviral
therapies and a general increase in the aging population. This
trend has implications for policy, planning and practice. Most
research and data have focused on the effects of the epidemic on
children, youth and prime-age adults, but there is a need for
studies that investigate patients 50 and older.
Grants for programs that address care and support of adolescents
living with HIV will be implemented by Children’s Radio Project,
South Africa; Sinomlando Project, South Africa; and AfricAid
Zvandiri, Zimbabwe. Studies of HIV prevention practices among
adults 50 and older and HIV/cancer co-infection among the elderly
will be implemented by the University of Cape Town’s Institute of
Ageing in Africa and Catholic University of Health and Allied
Sciences, Tanzania.
HIV and Female Cancers
In sub-Saharan Africa, cervical and breast cancers are the
leading causes of cancer death among women. The rate of cervical
cancer among women living with HIV is three times higher than those
who are not HIV-positive, primarily because of co-infection with
the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes cervical and other
gynecological cancers. An estimated 60% to 80% of women in
sub-Saharan Africa who are living with HIV are infected with HPV.
The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon
(PRRR), a global partnership fighting women’s cancers, have been
working together to reduce the rate of female cancers among women
who are co-infected with HIV.
Eight organizations have received grants that will continue to
build knowledge about HIV and cancer, increase HIV/cervical/breast
cancer screening and diagnosis efforts and strengthen the
Foundation’s collaboration with PRRR. Programs will be implemented
by Tanzania Youth Alliance; Medical Women Association of Tanzania;
Mbeya HIV/AIDS Network, Tanzania; Tanzania Marketing and
Communications; Mathiwos Wondu-YeEthiopia Cancer Society, Ethiopia;
Doctors With Africa CUAMM, Tanzania; Sex Workers Education and
Advocacy Task Force, South Africa; and Forum for African Women
Educationalists Swaziland Chapter.
HIV and Tuberculosis
In countries with high levels of HIV, such as those in
sub-Saharan Africa, about 80% of people with TB also have HIV.
Globally, TB is among the deadliest diseases and a leading killer
of people living with HIV. Since it was launched in 1999, the
Foundation’s Secure the Future initiative has been committed to
helping patients with TB who also have HIV. For the past three
years, the Foundation has been collaborating with the World Health
Organization’s (WHO) Global TB Program on ENGAGE-TB, a program to
strengthen community-based care for patients who have TB and for
those co-infected with HIV.
Grants to partners who are building capacity within communities
for integrated HIV/TB screening, diagnosis and treatment will be
implemented by Consortium of Christian Relief & Development
Association, Ethiopia; National University of Lesotho Consuls Unit;
and Grassroots Poverty Alleviation Program, Kenya.
About the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation
The mission of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is to help
reduce health disparities by strengthening community-based health
care worker capacity, integrating medical care and community-based
supportive services, and mobilizing communities in the fight
against disease.
For more information about the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation,
please visit www.bms.com/foundation or follow us on Twitter at
http://twitter.com/bmsnews.
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version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20151201005280/en/
Bristol-Myers Squibb FoundationFrederick J. Egenolf,
609-252-4875frederick.egenolf@bms.com
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