The FINANCIAL — Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation on July 20 announced new grants providing technical assistance and $1.3 million in funding to community-based organizations in Africa to enhance the care and support for people affected by HIV/AIDS.
The grants will help to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of community outreach programs, harnessing the technical expertise developed over ten years of SECURE THE FUTURE programs and support on the ground in Africa. The grant recipients were announced today at the International AIDS Conference in Cape Town, South Africa.
"The fourteen organizations receiving SECURE THE FUTURE technical assistance grants serve HIV-affected communities in countries across Africa — bringing SECURE THE FUTURE support for the first time to communities in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Morocco, Niger and Togo, and continued support to communities in Mali, South Africa, and Zambia. Organizations will receive technical support and funding for projects as varied as organizational strategic planning and financial management, strengthening prevention of mother-to-child transmission projects and psychosocial support, HIV/AIDS trainings for healthcare professionals, efforts to improve patient adherence, and the reduction of stigma and discrimination," Bristol-Myers Squibb informed.
Among the organizations receiving SECURE THE FUTURE technical assistance grants are:
Caritas Development Congo — to improve blood screening for anemic children and pregnant women in 10 districts of Goma and Kikwit. These populations are at high risk for blood transfusions and therefore at high risk of acquiring HIV and other blood-borne infections from unscreened blood. Unscreened blood poses a risk not only to the individuals receiving transfusions but also to the success of community interventions such as prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs.
The Christian HIV/AIDS Network of Liberia — to support outreach to more than 25 churches to encourage the implementation of faith-based HIV awareness and counseling projects. In Liberia, the church is a strong and far-reaching institution that plays a vital role in community reconstruction and health programs.
Morocco Association to Fight HIV and AIDS — to establish a comprehensive care and treatment program for HIV-infected children in three principal hospitals of Morocco — in Casablanca, Agadir and Marrakech. The program will include training for social workers and other care providers on the treatment of HIV/AIDS in children, and HIV treatment education, psychosocial support and nutritional services for HIV-infected children and their families.
As part of its Technical Assistance Program, SECURE THE FUTURE deploys a faculty of more than 50 experienced project manager and implementers to work alongside community-based organizations and provide highly customized assistance. The faculty is comprised of program managers, field workers, researchers, practitioners in the care of orphans and other vulnerable children, community mobilization and capacity building, and experts in the fields of monitoring and evaluation, food security, income-generating activity, governance and financial management who have partnered with SECURE THE FUTURE over the years.
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