On Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson announced a five-year, $200 million program focusing on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals of improving maternal and children's health in developing nations, the AP/Yahoo! News reports. The program -- "Every Mother, Every Child" -- aims to provide aid to up to 120 million women and children annually for the next five years. The program will operate in more than 50 countries (Johnson, AP/Yahoo! News, 9/8).
J&J's initiative includes four components, Reuters reports. The new Mobile Health for Mothers program will send women text messages with prenatal health information and appointment reminders, as well as phone calls from health coaches. Women will participate in the program in six countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Mexico, Nigeria and South Africa. According to Reuters, more than one billion women in low- and moderate-income countries own a cell phone (Steenhuysen, Reuters, 7/9).
The initiative also aims to make childbirth safer for women in developing countries by expanding peer education programs to prevent birth asphyxia and mother-to-child HIV transmission. In addition, J&J will fund upgrades to health facilities for treating women at risk for obstetric fistulas -- tissue ruptures that can lead to infection and incontinence.
J&J will continue to develop new treatments for HIV and tuberculosis, including an effort to produce the first new TB drug in 40 years. The company also will donate 200 million doses per year of mebendazole, a drug used to treat intestinal worms in children.
U.N. Conference
J&J's announcement comes ahead of the Sept. 20-Sept. 22 U.N. Millennium Development Goals Summit in New York City. The summit is expected to attract more than 150 heads of state and leaders of corporations and nongovernmental organizations. During the summit, the participants will be encouraged to create global partnerships and increase progress on achieving the development goals by the 2015 deadline (AP/Yahoo! News, 9/8).
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