July 20, 2009 04:00 AM Eastern Time 

Bristol-Myers Squibb’s SECURE THE FUTURE Announces $1.3 Million in New Grants to Enhance Community-Based HIV/AIDS Care and Support in Africa

CAPE TOWN, South Africa--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE: BMY) and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation today 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.

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.

Ten Years of SECURE THE FUTURE

This year marks the tenth anniversary of the launch of SECURE THE FUTURE, Bristol-Myers Squibb’s flagship philanthropic program that provides care and support for children and women affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa. Over the past decade, the program has funded more than $150 million in programs in 20 African countries, with special emphasis on community treatment support programs, care for children and building infrastructure.

SECURE THE FUTURE has evolved and remained agile over the years in order to play as relevant a role as possible in the global response to HIV/AIDS. In 2008, SECURE THE FUTURE entered a new phase as a technical assistance and skills transfer program. The Technical Assistance Program leverages the successes, experiences and learnings from SECURE THE FUTURE and empowers communities to harness resources and capacity to improve the effectiveness and sustainability of multi-sectoral, community-based HIV/AIDS programs.

“As we reflected on the last decade and charted a course for the future, it became clear that SECURE THE FUTURE’s most impactful offering is the evidence-based outcomes of our past partners and grant recipients,” said John Damonti, president, Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation. “Over the past ten years, we have accumulated key learnings and developed best practices that have been proven successful in the poorest, most remote areas of Africa. We are offering this experience and expertise to help community-based organizations most effectively utilize their resources, ensure their sustainability, and ultimately maximize the benefit to the communities they serve.”

SECURE THE FUTURE^® is a registered trademark of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company.

About Bristol-Myers Squibb

Bristol-Myers Squibb is a global biopharmaceutical company whose mission is to extend and enhance human life. For more information visit www.bms.com.

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