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Targets

3.1)   By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births

Merck

Applying its scientific and business expertise to assist in meeting the related UN Millennium Development Goal, Merck’s Merck for Mothers initiative is helping to bring the next generation of solutions to end deaths of women from pregnancy and childbirth complications. Merck for Mothers is a 10-year, $500 million initiative to reduce maternal mortality in which Merck works in close collaboration with more than 75 implementing partners to initiate more than 50 projects in 30 countries—all built for lasting impact and contributing to our vision of a world where no woman dies giving life. Merck for Mothers focuses on the two leading causes of death—postpartum hemorrhage and preeclampsia/eclampsia—as well as on family planning, a powerful preventive tool to save women’s lives. The program includes a portfolio of initiatives that align with three main pillars: 1) access to affordable, quality care; 2) product innovation; and 3) advocacy and awareness.

Qualcomm

The Mobile Ultrasound Patrold is a project partnered by Qualcomm with the Moroccan Ministry of Health and others aiming to improve care for women in developing countries through early detection and treatment of major causes of maternal mortality by utilizing mobile technology. The project provides participating doctors and nurses with backpacks containing devices that are wirelessly connected to specialists in hospital clinics to ensure high quality diagnostics. By March 2015, a total of 575 exams including 3,108 images were wirelessly transmitted through 3G technology, with clinicians giving the ultrasounds a 98% perfect clarity rating. The use of wireless technology has reduced diagnostic reviews or second opinion times, costs of a medical diagnosis per patient, and increased medical practitioners’ skills to deliver ultrasounds.

3.2)   By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births

P&G

The P&G Pampers brand - as part of its commitment to happy, healthy development of babies – created the Pampers Mobile Clinic Program, providing free basic health checks, health talks and products to mothers and their babies. Nearly 2 million mothers and children in Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda and Pakistan have been reached in over 10 years of operations. Also, the Pampers UNICEF vaccine program marked another year of working to eliminate neonatal tetanus, a preventable disease that claims the life of 58,000 babies in developing countries each year. Through this partnership since 2006, Pampers has helped eliminate maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) in 24 countries. In March 2019, one more country — Chad — has eliminated this disease. These efforts have resulted in an estimated 880,000 newborn lives saved since 2006 with over 300 million vaccines eliminating MNT.

Merck

In 2013, Merck supported the National Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition (HMHB) in efforts to expand well-baby care during the first year of life in the U.S. Through this program, Merck, HMHB, and the National Medical Association created a 12-month guide that educates new parents and caregivers on the importance of following through on well-baby visits during the first year of life.

Pfizer

Research shows that parents prioritize taking their baby to a doctor when they're sick, but may miss a regular checkup, not realizing how essential it is for their baby's overall health. Missing scheduled baby checkups is the number one reason for missing important CDC-recommended pediatric vaccinations that can help protect babies against potentially life-threatening diseases. That's why Pfizer launched Baby Checkups Count™, a public health awareness campaign to emphasize the importance of preventive care, encouraging new parents to ensure their baby attends every AAP-recommended checkup and stays up-to-date on all CDC-recommended vaccinations between birth and age two. The digital and social media campaign offers resources and tools for new parents on the many benefits of regular baby checkups.

3.3)   By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases

ExxonMobil

As a major employer and investor in many malaria-endemic countries, ExxonMobil has witnessed the devastation of malaria firsthand. That’s why they are part of an international effort to prevent, treat and cure this deadly disease. Between 2000 and 2017, ExxonMobil has committed $163 million in cash grants to the cause, making them the largest private-sector grant-maker in the fight against malaria. ExxonMobil’s support has enabled their partners to:

– Reach more than 125 million people throughout Africa and Asia with 14.3 million bed nets, 4.3 million doses of antimalarial drugs and nearly 3 million rapid diagnostic kits
– Train 590,000 health care workers and counselors to help prevent, diagnose and treat malaria
– Hold more than 2.5 million community health sessions
– Provide technical assistance that leveraged $791 million in grants to Angola and Nigeria from the Global Fund – of which $218 million was dedicated specifically for malaria projects
– Support novel approaches to monitor resistance of current frontline antimalarial therapies and provide funding for the research and discovery of new treatments.

Since 2000, global efforts to control and eliminate malaria have brought down malaria mortality rates by 62 percent worldwide and by 69 percent in children under five years old. Through the combined power of institutions, individuals, and the communities they represent, more people are receiving prevention and treatment tools than ever before. ExxonMobil is proud to do its part in driving and maintaining these recent successes in the fight against malaria. However, much work remains to sustain momentum toward the ultimate goal of ending malaria for good.

Merck

In 1987, Merck founded the MECTIZAN Donation Program and announced that it would donate MECTIZAN for as long as necessary for the treatment and control of onchocerciasis (more commonly known as “river blindness”). At the inception of the program, the disease was one of the leading causes of preventable blindness worldwide, with approximately 130 million people at risk of getting the disease today. The program is a multi-sectoral partnership involving the WHO, the World Bank and UNICEF, as well as ministries of health, nongovernmental organizations and local communities is the longest-running disease-specific drug donation program and public-private partnership of its kind. With recent evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO) indicating the feasibility of eliminating the disease in Africa, the program’s strategy shifted from disease control to disease elimination, now working toward the goals established by the WHO to eliminate both lymphatic filariasis (LF) and onchocerciasis by 2020 and 2025, respectively. For more information on the MECTIZAN Donation Program, review the MDP Annual Highlights.

Merck has taken various approaches to combating HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis on local and regional levels. The Merck Foundation has committed $36 million USD in establishing the China-MSD HIV/AIDS Partnership (C-MAP) and in Papua New Guinea, Merck is a member of the Collaboration for Health in Papua New Guinea (CHPNG), which focuses on day care centers for those with the disease while providing training and education to healthcare workers to better treat and provide necessary support. Perhaps its most sustained commitment in one country has been its work in Botswana through the African Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership (ACHAP) to build the country’s HIV and tuberculosis prevention, care and treatment programs. Among many other contributions, ACHAP contributed to

• halving the infant mortality rate, saving over 50,000 lives between 2002 and 2007;

• dramatically reduced mother-to-child transmission and reduced new infections among children by at least 80 percent (from around 40 percent zero-conversion to less than 5 percent);

• substantially increased laboratory and treatment capacity and coverage across the country, including through training thousands of physicians and nurses;

• supported the development of Botswana’s First National Strategic Framework for HIV/AIDS (2003–2009) and the Second National Strategic Framework (2010–2016) as well as the country’s National Tuberculosis Strategy and TB/HIV policy guidelines;

• supported the launch of the TB Advocacy, Communication and Social Mobilization strategy which provided technical and financial support in the development of the training curriculum and in the Training of Trainees (TOTs) and other education and public awareness campaigns;

• a reduction of the national TB case notification rate from 623 per 100,000 persons in 2002 to 331 per 100,000 persons in 2012, likely attributed to the high coverage of ART in the country and high-impact TB interventions;

• increased data on proportion of tuberculosis patients with known HIV status, which has steadily increased from 68 percent in 2008 to 87 percent in 2012;

• increased coverage of co-trimoxazole prophylactic therapy from 32 percent in 2008 to 90 percent in 2012 for those TB patients co-infected with HIV, and the coverage of ART from 20 percent to 65 percent during the same period of time.

Merck has collaborated with the Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) to provide access to its pediatric formulations of raltegravir for use in treating HIV-1 infections in infants and children. In providing the MPP a royalty-free license for the development of pediatric formulations of the drug, Merck has improved the access to raltegravir for pediatric populations in low-and middle-income countries with high rates of pediatric HIV, totaling 92 countries.

 
 

Pfizer

Trachoma is the world’s leading cause of infectious blindness and nearly 157.7 million people are living in trachoma-endemic areas in 43 countriesTrachoma primarily affects remote communities with severely limited access to health care, clean water or sanitation.. The International Trachoma Initiative (ITI), a global program Pfizer helped to establish, has been working since 1998 to eliminate blinding trachoma as a public health concern. Through the ITI, Pfizer has donated more than 800 million doses of Zithromax to 40 countries since the program began. In 2018, the World Health Organization (WHO) validated that Ghana and Nepal had reached trachoma elimination, making them the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa and Asia to achieve this target. Both received Pfizer’s Zithromax donation and are proof that the comprehensive global trachoma elimination strategy is working. Pfizer recommitted to donating Zithromax through 2025.

LevI Strauss & Co.

Since 1983, Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) has contributed more than $70 million in grants to HIV/AIDS organizations in more than 40 countries, making the company the longest continuous corporate supporter in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In addition, LS&Co. has long supported HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs in the workplace, dating back to the early 1980s. In 2008, LS&Co. formally launched the LS&Co. HIV/AIDS Prevention Treatment and Care Program to provide innovative and interactive in-person prevention education and offer free voluntary and confidential HIV testing for employees, as well as free HIV/AIDS treatment and care for employees and dependents in need. From office to retail to factory employees, LS&Co. is ensuring access to life-saving information, testing and care for its global workforce.

3.4)   By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being

Chevron

Chevron continually invests in programs that create local partnerships and build capacity, such as Chevron Australia’s new Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). They partner with the Heart Foundation to support the Pilbara Aboriginal Heart Health Program and fight heart disease, which is the leading cause of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. They work with local leaders, such as Yorga Djenna Bidi graduates, and community groups to deliver culturally appropriate heart health activities and education to help reduce cardiovascular disease and close the gap in life expectancy among the Onslow, Karratha and Roebourne communities in Western Australia.

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company is committed to help people get moving by supporting physical activity programs in every country where it does business. The Company supported more than 330 physical activity programs in nearly 125 countries around the world through 2014. By 2020, the company aims to get three million people physically active by supporting community-based physical activity programs.

P&G

The P&G Safeguard Clean Hands Healthy Kids Campaign teaches hygiene to prevent childhood illness, absenteeism and even death. The program was launched in response to global research that soap and water washing can prevent nearly 4 million children a year from dying before their 5th birthday. Since initially launching in China, the program has expanded to also reach schools across, the Philippines, Pakistan and Mexico, reaching 4.5 million students a year. In many locations, the brand has helped build hand-washing and sanitation stations for children. Since 2007, Safeguard’s hand-washing education program has helped 72 million children to develop healthy hand-washing habits.

The Walt DIsney Company

The Walt Disney Company, in 2006, became the first major media company to establish nutrition guidelines to associate our brands and characters with more nutritionally balanced foods. In 2012, Disney took another important step, becoming the first major media company to set industry leading food advertising standards in the United States. That same year Disney introduced the Mickey Check, an icon that makes it easy for consumers to identify nutritious food choices online, at retail, and at Disneyworld and Disneyland. By 2015, the company ensured that all of its advertising on U.S. kid-focused media platforms and Disney-owned online destinations oriented to families with younger children were with food and beverages that comply with the nutrition guidelines.

3.5)   Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol

Philip Morris International

Smoking cigarettes causes serious disease and is an obstacle to good health. SDG 3 has a tobacco specific target: strengthening the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. In addition, SDG 3 includes a target, to reduce by 30% premature mortality from non-communicable diseases including tobacco related diseases. At Philip Morris International (PMI), we understand and respect that we have a special obligation to market our products responsibly and that our stance on the regulation and taxation of our products should be consistent with public health objectives. Despite comprehensive requirements in place to control tobacco use, the WHO estimates that there will still be close to 1 billion smokers in the foreseeable future. Smoking prevention and cessation efforts must continue, but accelerating the switch to less harmful smoke-free alternatives, holds the potential to improve the health outcomes and quality of life of those smokers who otherwise will continue smoking, and significantly contribute to the SDG 3 target of reducing premature mortality.

PMI has announced its vision of a smoke-free world and its objective is to convince all adult smokers who cannot or do not intend to quit smoking to switch to smoke-free products. PMI is spending billions on research and development and re-allocating resources towards less harmful products. By doing this, PMI aims to convert the maximum number of smokers as soon as possible and contribute to the SDG3 target. PMI acknowledges that collaboration with governments and other stakeholders is necessary to achieve this goal. PMI is also committed to marketing its alternatives to combustible cigarettes in a responsible way, i.e., only to adult smokers who want to continue using tobacco.

3.6)   By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents

Pirelli

Pirelli constantly strives to achieve the highest levels of product safety. The company’s commitment to road safety goes beyond the tire, with numerous training and awareness programs as well as ongoing research into innovative technological solutions for sustainable transportation. In addition to the numerous training activities the Company has organized during the last few years, in June 2016 Pirelli signed a four-year agreement with FIA in support of the “FIA Action for Road Safety Campaign” whose main objective is to raise awareness on safe driving.

3.7)   By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes

LifeSpring Hospitals

In 2010, LifeSpring Hospitals responded to the Business Call to Action with its commitment to expand access to affordable, high-quality maternal and child health care to low-income families throughout India. The for-profit chain of small hospitals aims to reduce pregnancy-related deaths and complications among India’s working class poor in urban areas. LifeSpring’s goals include opening 200 hospitals by 2015 and providing 82,000 women with high-quality maternity and reproductive health services. As of June 2010, LifeSpring Hospitals has delivered more than 7,000 babies, and its doctors have treated over 100,000 outpatient cases at the hospital chain’s nine clinics. The vast majority of LifeSpring’s customers fall between the cracks of the healthcare system in India. They are either too poor to benefit from private clinic care or they may not have access to any other kind of care. Therefore, LifeSpring fills an important gap by providing affordable, high-quality maternal health care to lower income women. By reducing the burden of maternal healthcare on low-income families, LifeSpring is helping to ensure that more babies are born with qualified physicians rather than at home in high-risk situations. Thereby this model contributes to the reduction of child and maternal mortality rates by increasing institutional deliveries. In addition, communities are invited to attend monthly health camps held at the hospitals to educate women and their families about proper maternal care. Pregnant women are given free medical consultations and vitamins and children receive free pediatric consultations and vaccinations.

Merck

Merck prices their reproductive health commodities at their lowest access prices when selling them in low- and middle- income countries. In July 2011, Merck and the Reproductive Health Supplies Coalition (RHSC) announced a partnership to enhance access and appropriate and effective use of IMPLANON (etonogestrel implant) for qualified buyers in developing countries. Under the initiative, IMPLANON is available at Merck’s lowest access price to donor agencies and family planning members of RHSC in sub-Saharan Africa, and in all other low income countries and lower middle income countries with maternal mortality ratios of less than 200. In May 2013, Merck, along with various partners announced an agreement to expand contraceptive access and options for millions of women. To date, three of Merck’s contraceptives have reached over 4 million women in Family Planning 2020 countries.

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p&G

Always started their global Puberty & Confidence Education program over 35 years ago in an effort to prioritize period education. The program has helped more than 18 million people across more than 75 countries navigate puberty with confidence by providing girls, teachers and parents with free educational resources and samples. The goal is to not only ensure that students are taught the biological facts, but also that they learn how to cope with the emotional changes they endure, providing support to students as they work to build their confidence, influence and voice. The program has helped many young girls. According to Global Citizen, in sub-Saharan Africa, 92% of girls who participated in the Always program agreed that their self-confidence increased because of what they learned about their bodies and how to manage their periods.

Pfizer

As of 2017, an estimated 214 million women and girls who wanted to delay or avoid pregnancy were still without access to modern contraception, and the proportion of women with the highest unmet need was in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2018, the Pfizer Foundation announced a $5 million grant commitment to initiatives in low- and middle-income countries that provide family planning access and education for women and men at the same time children are routinely vaccinated. These grants build on The Pfizer Foundation’s existing grant program by providing a second round of funding to international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) in five African countries where different barriers exist for women to access family planning services, bringing the total program funding to $11.7 million to date. Through this grant program, Pfizer supports CARE in Benin, the International Rescue Committee in Ethiopia and Uganda, Save the Children in Malawi and World Vision in Kenya.

Qualcomm

Qualcomm® Wireless Reach™ is a strategic initiative that brings wireless technology to underserved communities globally. Wireless Reach invests in projects that foster entrepreneurship, aid in public safety, enhance the delivery of health care, enrich teaching and learning and improve environmental sustainability. Mobile technologies are literally breaking down barriers – geographic, socio-economic, educational and cultural – that have historically obstructed progress in developing countries. To date, Wireless Reach has collaborated with more than 450 stakeholders on over 100 projects in 40 countries, and has benefited nearly 8 million people. The Mobilizing HERhealth program empowers women factory workers in China to better manage and improve their health via mobile technology. Developed by Business for Social Responsibility, (BSR) Qualcomm® Wireless Reach™ is the primary program funder and provides wireless expertise along with project management support. The mobile application connects women with peer health educators, providing them access to reproductive health training and other interactive health-related content.

3.8)   Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all

Citi

In 2016, Citi helped the International Finance Facility for Immunisation (IFFIm) to raise $500 million through a 3-year Vaccine Bond that gave investors the opportunity to fund children’s immunization programs by Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance. This is IFFIM’s third transaction in the public markets and is an example of how Citi is working to help its clients leverage the capital markets to support social and environmental progress. The proceeds of this social thematic bond will enable Gavi to protect millions of children in the world’s poorest countries against preventable diseases through low-cost vaccines.

The Coca-Cola Company

The Coca-Cola Company committed with The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (the Global Fund) and The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in 2010 to work together to apply business knowledge to maximize the ability to get vital medicines and medical supplies to the people who need it most. Through “Project Last Mile”, The Coca-Cola Company is using the Coca-Cola system’s logistic, supply chain and marketing expertise to help improve health systems across Africa in a sustainable way. Through this partnership, government agencies are learning how to more efficiently deliver vital drugs, medicines and medical supplies, how to better market the availability of these supplies, thereby creating demand, and how to maintain coolers to ensure the medicines and vaccines are stored at the correct temperatures. Project Last Mile’s success is dependent on extensive collaborations between the Coca-Cola system, government, academia and other NGOs. Critical partners include the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), The Global Fund, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Collaboration with Yale University’s Global Health Leadership Institute, Accenture Development Partnerships (ADP) and the Global Environment & Technology Foundation (GETF) is also critical to the initiative’s successful execution.

Por ti, Familia

In 2011, Por ti, Familia joined the Business Call to Action in its efforts to provide low-income households in Peru access to essential medicines and quality healthcare. Launched in 2009, Por ti, Familia (meaning “For You, Family”) is a private-sector solution to inefficient distribution channels that restrict access to healthcare for low income communities. As a chain of primary health clinics, Por ti, Familia utilizes a hub-and-spoke model to offer comprehensive and affordable healthcare in conveniently located retail storefronts. Combining a doctor’s office, pharmacy and laboratory testing services in the same location, the social enterprise has become an essential source of healthcare provision for the country’s poorest, particularly in Lima. And through the establishment of an extensive network of private health centres, branded “MiDoctorcito”, Por ti, Familia enables access to quality healthcare for Lima’s urban low-income communities. In 2010 alone, Por ti, Familia registered 7,000 patients and since its inception has launched 5 clinics and health centres with over 40,000 registered patients. Por ti, Familia’s goals for 2017 include scaling up operations to serve 270,000 patients per year, establishing 100 new health centres, and employing 1,000 people in the new centres.

Pfizer

Created in 2000, Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, is an international organization, bringing together public and private sectors, with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. To date, Gavi has immunized more than 500 million children and saved more than 7 million lives. Since beginning its relationship with Gavi in 2001, Pfizer has helped Gavi achieve its goals by increasing access to immunizations on an accelerated, affordable and sustainable basis. Through this partnership, Pfizer has supplied their pneumococcal vaccine to 50 countries across Africa, Asia, Latin America, the Middle East and parts of Europe. Pfizer also ensures the vaccine can reach those who need it the most by helping to train nearly 40,000 health care workers across Asia and Africa, who are at the forefront of immunizing babies.

HelpAge International and Pfizer have worked together since 2012 to reduce the impact of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) among older people in Tanzania. During the first two years, the initiative focused on raising awareness among older people and health providers contributing to the Government of Tanzania's efforts to provide appropriate health services to older citizens. NCDs include a range of chronic conditions, including cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease and hypertension, as well as Alzheimer's and other dementias. They are commonly thought of as “diseases of affluence,” whereas, in reality, four-fifths of deaths from NCDs are in low- and middle-income countries and older people in developing countries are particularly at risk. Prevention through an active and healthy lifestyle can turn some of these debilitating diseases into manageable conditions.

The ongoing project focuses on developing health messaging through an intergenerational approach and includes the strengthening of community based initiatives such as active aging groups. These initiatives are aimed at promoting prevention and management of NCDs by practicing healthy lifestyles, while working with health providers at local and national levels to improve prevention, early diagnosis, follow-up and treatment of NCDs, as well as improving on data collection and analysis to inform appropriate policies. While the community-based activities are carried out in Morogoro, Kibaha and Songea districts, at the national level the project supports health advocacy including curriculum reform, increase access to essential NCD drugs and support to improve health information management with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.

3.9)   By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination

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dow

Dow is using technologies such as Dow PRIMAL™ Bio-based Acrylic Emulsions in formulated paints to replace petroleum-sourced materials with plant-based carbon. These paints deliver excellent properties with ultra-low odor, low VOC and low emissions. They also help improve indoor air quality by capturing formaldehyde which is a known air pollutant.

 

Means of Implementation

3.A)   Strengthen implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate

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Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide. With more than 1 billion smokers in the world, tobacco kills an estimated 6 million people every year. By 2030, the annual death toll from tobacco is estimated to rise beyond 8 million. In 2018, Pfizer proudly sponsored the 17th World Conference on Tobacco or Health, which gathered 2,000 delegates representing 125 countries to discuss the need for increased tobacco control across all geographic borders. Over the course of three days, Pfizer was able to gather expert perspectives, share ideas about the evolving tobacco control landscape, and support a symposium focused on strategies and tools to embed smoking cessation into health systems.

3.B)   Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all

Merck

Created in 2000, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is a global Vaccine Alliance bringing together public and private sectors with the shared goal of creating equal access to new and underused vaccines for children living in the world’s poorest countries. Merck, Pfizer, and Janssen Pharmaceutical of Johnson & Johnson are partners that make respective contributions of vaccines. Merck has made access to rotavirus and HPV vaccines such as ROTATEQ® and GARDASIL ® affordable in GAVI-eligible countries by making prices for such vaccines a small fraction of the price in developed countries.

Merck has various partnerships with organizations, demonstrating its support in addressing global health issues. In 2012, Merck joined six other pharmaceutical companies, along with research institutions and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to launch the TB Drug Accelerator (TBDA) partnership, which aims to speed the discovery of new treatments for tuberculosis. Partners have shared sections of their compound libraries and data in order to develop the best drug candidates. Merck is a partner in the International Partnership for Microbicides, granting IPM non-royalty-bearing, nonexclusive licenses to develop, manufacture, and distribute its ARV compounds for use as a vaginal microbicide to help protect women in developing countries. In its agreement with Drugs for Neglected Diseases initiative (DNDi), Merck contributes intellectual property to conduct early development programs for durg candidate for neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) treatment. Merck also collaborates with the Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) which focuses on the research and development of vaccines, along with therapeutics and diagnostics for a range of diseases. To support the fight against cervical and breast cancer in sub-Saharan Africa, Merck has been a partner of the Pink Ribbon Red Ribbon initiative.

3.C)   Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States

Merck

The Merck Foundation committed $4 million SD to the BroadReach Institute for Training and Education (BRITE) implemented its Management and Leadership Academy (MLA) program in Zambia. The MLA program helps equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills to lead, own, and transform the delivery of healthcare in their own country. Since the beginning of the MLA program in Zambia in 2011, over 700 healthcare workers have been trained. Various cases have shown that the MLA has empowered health care professionals to address local issues such as high maternal mortality rates, and provided them skills to improve information management, health service delivery, and staff unity.

3.D)   Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks

Dimagi

In August 2011, the U.S. technology company Dimagi made a commitment to promote access to health care for millions of people in India. Dimagi’s multilingual mobile phone-based application, CommCare, is helping health workers to collect data and monitor patient care more efficiently and effectively. Specifically, the app allows health workers to store and access patient information and monitor at-risk patients, while also enabling health care program staff to monitor health workers’ performance through online reports. Moreover, CommCare’s ReMiND pregnancy application supports prenatal and postnatal care by collecting data about each pre- and post-natal visit with a health worker, and enables health workers to receive training alerts, monitor pregnant women’s health, and share interactive counselling messages. In India, CommCare is linked to a network of health clinics through the National Rural Health Mission, which promotes good health through basic illness prevention, first aid, family planning, childhood vaccinations, and other government-supported health programmes. Since 2012, over half a million clients have been registered in CommCare across 40 countries, and over 1 million forms have been submitted to CommCareHQ, addressing diverse health issues including maternal and child health, family planning, child nutrition, and HIV. Dimagi estimates that over 250,000 beneficiaries have been reached through CommCare in India alone.