Angola

Praziquantel Donation Program

Merck KGaA’s Praziquantel Donation Program, in partnership with the World Health Organization (WHO), aims to fight schistosomiasis in Africa. Schistosomiasis is a parasitic worm disease that is the second most prevalent and devastating parasitic disease in tropical countries after malaria. Infection occurs when human skin comes into contact with fresh water contaminated by snails carrying the schistosome parasites, which migrate through the body and spread the infectious disease. It represents the 2nd most severe burden for African children after malaria, and is considered as one of the most neglected tropical diseases. The consequences of an infection are particularly serious for children, as schistosomiasis stunts growth and cognitive development and also lead to anemia. WHO reports more than 200 million infected people in Americas, Africa, the Middle East, Southeast and the Western Pacific.

ViiV Healthcare Access to ARVs

In the Least Developed Countries and sub-Saharan Africa GlaxoSmithKline has offered its HIV/AIDS medicines at not-for-profit (nfp) prices since 2001. ViiV Healthcare will maintain this commitment, and will include the additional products in its portfolio. All of ViiV Healthcare's ARVs are now available at not-for-profit prices to public sector customers and not-for-profit organizations in all Least Developed Countries and all of sub-Saharan Africa - 64 countries in total.

Sanofi-aventis Sleeping Sickness Program

Sleeping sickness has reemerged in Africa as a major health threat. In 2001, sanofi-aventis committed USD 25 million over the years 2001-2006 to help the World Health Organization (WHO) to implement a strategy of adequate medicine supplies, disease surveillance and management, plus R&D for new treatments. After five years, WHO and sanofi-aventis' efforts were estimated to have saved 110,000 lives. In 2006, the company renewed its contract with the WHO and expanded it to address several additional 'most neglected diseases' (see separate entry).

Regional Psychosocial Support Initiative

In Southern and East Africa, the Novartis Foundation aims to improve livelihoods and future prospects of children and adolescents affected by HIV/AIDS.

PMTCT: Abbott Rapid HIV Test Donation Program

Each year, approximately 800,000 babies around the world become infected with HIV during their mothers´ pregnancy, during birth or through breastfeeding.

Novo Nordisk: Differential Pricing on Insulin

Among the targets for UN Millennium Development Goal 8 is a call for partnerships with pharmaceutical companies to provide access to affordable essential drugs in developing countries. Since 2001, Novo Nordisk has offered human insulin to the public health systems in Least Developed Countries (LDCs) at prices which do not to exceed 20% of the average price in Europe, Japan and North America. In 2009, Novo Nordisk offered this pricing scheme to all 49 LDCs, of which 36 used it to buy insulin at or below this price, compared to 32 in 2008.

Novartis Coartem

Coartem is the first World Health Organization-prequalified fixed-dose, artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) antimalarial, approved by stringent regulatory authorities and on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines. Coartem is fast-acting and cures over 97% of patients after a 3-day treatment course. Coartem combines artemether, a derivative of artemisinin (from the Chinese medicinal plant Artemisia annua), with a synthetic substance, lumefantrine, which has not been used as a monotherapy.

Merck Praziquantel Donation Program

In April 2007, Merck signed a partnership agreement with the World Health Organization to supply 200 million tablets of Cesol® 600 (praziquantel) for the treatment and prevention of schistosomiasis over a 10 year period.

Merck Mectizan Donation Program

Onchocerciasis, or river blindness, is a leading cause of infectious blindness in the developing world. The Merck Mectizan Donation Program (MDP) was launched in 1987, when Merck & Co., Inc. announced that it would donate Mectizan (ivermectin), for the treatment of onchocerciasis to all who needed it for as long as needed.

Merck & Co., Inc. HIV/AIDS Programs - Africa

In 2009, with support from The Merck Company Foundation, the Earth Institute at Columbia University launched a community health worker training program to strengthen community health services for over 400,000 people in 10 African countries as part of the Millennium Villages project. The initiative aims to develop a professional cadre of 800 community health workers to fill a critical gap in primary healthcare provision for rural communities throughout Africa.

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