In the United States, in addition to public funds, foundations and private sources provide substantial support to the global fight against HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The number of such organizations involved grows daily. The following list gives some examples.
I. Foundations.
Foundations provide a significant portion of the total funding for domestic and international programs to prevent and treat these diseases and to provide care and services to victims. Foundations can focus funding on particular geographic areas, types of research, or on increasing public awareness.
Some examples include:
--The Gates Foundation has announced that it will donate $100 million to the global fund to fight HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. This is in addition to the more than $300 already donated by the foundation to fight these three diseases
--The MetLife Foundation has contributed $9 million since 1987 for AIDS awareness and education programs.
--The National AIDS Fund has contributed nearly $80 million over the last decade.
--The American Foundation for AIDS Research (amfAR) has given $3.2 million over the last two years for vaccine research and immune reconstitution projects.
--The Rockefeller Foundation has donated $3.45 million in 2000 for 14 domestic and international projects related to combating HIV/AIDS and a wide range of programs in tuberculosis control.
--The Soros Foundation has given $14 million for international tuberculosis programs with special attention to multi-drug resistant Tuberculosis.
--The Kaiser Family Foundation has contributed $10 million to HIV/AIDS programs.
--Lutheran Missionaries Foundation has given $200,000 for tuberculosis laboratories.
--The MacArthur Foundation has contributed $570,000 for a variety of HIV/AIDS programs.
II. Charities.
Numerous charities, including faith-based charities, work both domestically and internationally to combat HIV/AIDS through education, prevention and treatment. For example:
--HOPE Worldwide, a non-profit charity based in Philadelphia, began anti-HIV/AIDS programs in the Cote d'Ivoire in 1991 and now has over 100,000 volunteers working in 75 nations on six continents. Health education efforts focus on the prevention of HIV/AIDS, leprosy, tuberculosis, smoking and numerous childhood diseases. In May of 2001, Secretary of State Colin Powell visited the Village of HOPE center in Soweto, South Africa during his visit to the region.
--World Vision reports that one of its most successful ventures has been a program of assistance to orphans of AIDS in Uganda. In order to improve knowledge about the epidemic in South Africa, World Vision has targeted youth in the Kwazulu-Natal Province through the Child Survival Project of South Africa. In Myanmar, World Vision is currently the only humanitarian organization providing home care for those living with HIV/AIDS; in Romania, it offers educational activities for children living with HIV/AIDS while raising awareness about AIDS and changing attitudes toward HIV-positive children; and in India, it works to target commercial sex workers and truck drivers with information about the disease.
III. Private Sector.
Examples of private companies' support include:
--The Corporate Council on Africa recently formed a Task Force on AIDS in Africa, with the objective of providing a unified approach to assist large and small U.S. companies in their own efforts in alleviating the HIV/AIDS pandemic in Sub-Saharan Africa. The task force is in the process of collecting data from its member companies in the countries where they operate, to assist in the formulation of a coordinated business policy to address the problem.
--Abbott Laboratories supports "Step Forward ... for the world's children," a multi-year program offering aid to orphans with AIDS and vulnerable children throughout the world.
--Bristol Myers Squibb has contributed $115 million through its "Secure the Future" program, which supports programs for orphans and home-based women and children with HIV/AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa, plus medical research and educational exchanges.
--Merck has donated funding and medicine to the "Botswana Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership" to improve HIV/AIDS education and care.
--SmithKline Beecham supports malaria vaccine pediatric trials in Africa.
--Exxon/Mobil has contributed $1.3 million to support the accelerated development of malaria drugs and vaccines.
--Chevron Companies are involved in anti-HIV/AIDS efforts in several countries. For example, the affiliate in Brazzaville contributes to a "Preventing HIV/AIDS in Our Schools" campaign in the Congo, administered through the United Nations Development Program. In Nigeria, Chevron launched the Chevron Workplace AIDS Prevention Program and helps fund a program by the nation's health and education ministries to bring HIV/AIDS and STD education to public school classrooms. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chevron conducts an annual AIDS awareness campaign for employees and their families.
--Coca-Cola announced on June 20 of this year that, in partnership with the United Nations agency UNAIDS, it would use its advertising resources and distribution network to help combat HIV/AIDS in Africa. The company stated that, among other things, it will lend logistics managers to charities to help them figure out routes for distributing literature, condoms or testing kits, and turn over 30 billboards to Kenya's National AIDS Control Council to run an awareness campaign the company helped to develop. Coca-Cola will initially make its services available in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Morocco and Zambia.
--DaimlerChrysler pledged to provide free condoms and anti-AIDS drugs to its South African employees and families.
