Bristol-Myers Squibb to provide pediatric antibiotics to locations in
Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Haiti
MANAGUA, Nicaragua, Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- Lifesaving pediatric
antibiotics are on their way to more than 110,000 children in Honduras,
Nicaragua, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic and Haiti through the Action
for Family Health program, an initiative of the Catholic Medical Mission
Board (CMMB) and the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO). Bristol-Myers
Squibb donated the medicines valued at $225,000 to CMMB as part of its
ongoing support to the Action for Family Health program.
Action for Family Health was created in 2003 by CMMB and PAHO to reduce
infant mortality and the effects of childhood illness and to improve the
survival of children under five. The partnership is designed to bolster the
implementation of the PAHO/WHO Integrated Management of Childhood Illness
Strategy (IMCI) in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic and
Haiti by involving the public and Catholic health networks. The medicines
donated today build on a $400,000 public-private partnership grant that the
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation made to CMMB for this initiative in
December 2004.
"We are pleased to be able to enhance our contribution to this
important project by providing lifesaving medicines to children who would
otherwise not have access to them," said Dieter Weinand, president of Latin
America and Canada, Worldwide Pharmaceuticals, Bristol-Myers Squibb. "The
partnership with Action for Family Health exemplifies the Bristol-Myers
Squibb commitment to addressing health disparities, particularly among
vulnerable populations like many of the children of Central America."
CMMB president and chief executive officer, John F. Galbraith, speaks
of the donation, "It was exactly three years ago that Action for Family
Health was launched, and this donation by Bristol-Myers Squibb is an
example of the continued commitment to making an already-successful, unique
partnership even more effective."
Through the Action for Family Health partnership, CMMB, PAHO,
affiliated Ministries of Health, and Catholic Healthcare Networks have
rolled out IMCI to 36 dioceses, 122 community sites and 242 health
facilities, with an estimated target population of 3 million persons,
including 446,000 children less than five years of age. The project uses a
network of Catholic faith-based organizations such as Caritas, Pastoral de
la Salud, Catholic universities and others to help reduce mortality rates
and to increase country coverage and access of the population to benefits
from qualified health services.
Every year more than 11 million children in developing countries die
before reaching their fifth birthday, many during the first year of life.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 300,000 children under five
years of age die each year from illnesses that can be easily prevented or
treated. Half of these deaths are due to acute respiratory infections,
diarrhea, malaria, measles or malnutrition, and often a combination of
these ills. It is estimated that 30 percent of the population does not have
access to primary health care services.
Action for Family Health supports the Millennium Development Goals to
reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds, to halt the spread of
HIV/AIDS, to improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality rates by
the year 2015.
Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global pharmaceutical and related health care
products company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life.
Corporate philanthropy at Bristol-Myers Squibb is focused on strengthening
communities where company employees live and work and reducing health
disparities.
Founded in 1928, CMMB works collaboratively to provide quality
healthcare initiatives, without discrimination, to people in need around
the world. In 2005, it provided medicines and medical supplies to 51
countries and supported 123 medical volunteers in 27 countries. With donor
support, CMMB collaborated with partners to support healthcare projects in
resource-poor countries that addressed HIV and AIDS, child health and
neglected diseases.
PAHO, which also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the
World Health Organization, has been working for more than 100 years with
all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the
living standards of their peoples. See http://www.paho.org for additional
information.
SOURCE Catholic Medical Mission Board
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Related links:
http://www.bms.com
http://www.paho.org
CONTACT:
Claudia Carthaus, Catholic Medical Mission
Board, +1-212-609-2581, ccarthaus@cmmb.org; or Becky Taylor,
Bristol-Myers Squibb, +1-609-252-4476, rebecca.taylor@bms.com
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