Mauritania

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.

Sanofi-aventis: Mental Health Disorders (Schizophrenia)

Sanofi-aventis, one of the major actors in the central nervous system therapeutic field in the developed world, is developing new programs to help provide better care for schizophrenia - one of the most severe mental disorders - in developing countries. There, these psychotic patients not only suffer from the disabling and potentially life-threatening symptoms of their illness, but they are also victims of ignorance, discrimination and social stigma.

Sanofi-aventis & EPIVAC

EPIVAC (from EPIdemiology & VACcinology) is a comprehensive, one-year, on-the-job professional training program in epidemiology, applied computing, vaccinology and management of health programs for public health officers in West Africa, culminating in an inter-university diploma in 'Organization and Management of Public Immunization Programs in Developing Countries' awarded by the universities of Cocody-Abidjan (Ivory Coast) and Paris-Dauphine (France). The program is a Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis, contribution to the GAVI Alliance.

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.

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 & 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.

LEEM Quality Control Program

Counterfeit and substandard medicines are a major threat to health in developing countries, many of which lack the technical resources to identify inferior quality medicines. To help alleviate this situation, the association representing the R&D pharmaceutical industry in France, Les Entreprises du Medicament (LEEM), started a program in 2006 to allow developing countries to send samples of suspect medicines to France for analysis. To ensure impartiality, the LEEM pays for samples to be analyzed by an independent expert body, the Central Humanitaire Medico Pharmaceutique (CHMP).

International Trachoma Initiative (ITI)

The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI) is the only organization dedicated solely to the elimination of blinding trachoma.

World Health Organization WHO

WaterAid

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