Tag Archives: Johnson & Johnson

What a Difference a Year Makes

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By: William Lin, Director Corporate Contributions, Johnson & Johnson

What a difference a year makes. A year ago this month, Johnson & Johnson made a commitment to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals supporting maternal and child health. Part of the commitment was to expand the Company’s donation of mebendazole, a drug that treats children infected with intestinal worms.

More than 600 million school-age children are infected with intestinal worms, or soil transmitted helminthes (STH). They live in some of the poorest tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world.

Since last year’s announcement, our program partner, Children Without Worms (CWW) has been working hard to reach more children with this expanded commitment. This builds on our work over the last six years in eight countries and this year, we added Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Nigeria and Yemen.

In addition to making donations to new countries, we have also expanded our donations in countries that have demonstrated efficient and effective deworming programs that have not yet achieved national coverage. For instance, in Bangladesh where STH affects as many as 92 percent of school-age children in parts of the country, we’ve scaled up and will reach children in almost of half of the country’s districts with high disease prevalence. Starting in 2012, we plan to double the donation to Bangladesh allowing the government to put more than 10 million children on the road to better health. This year, with additions of new countries and expansions to existing countries, we have more than doubled our mebendazole donation from 36 million doses in 2010 to 80 million doses, reaching twice as many children. Continue reading →

Reading List 9/22/2011

Maternal Health, MDA, Water and Sanitation, , , ,

Check out the latest in global health and NTD news with the today’s End the Neglect reading list! Today we’re reading about:

Distribution of filariasis tablets begins
“The Fiji government has announced it will be distributing anti filariasis tablets again in an effort to eliminate the disease in the country. The 2011 Mass Drug Administration (MDA) will begin next week Monday. The tablets will also be available at Health Centres and Nursing Stations in the Central, Eastern and Northern divisions. Ministry of Health spokeswoman Priscilla Govind said the Central Eastern and Northern divisions will undergo a further (9th) round of MDA scheduled for 26th September to 7th October.”

Johnson & Johnson Makes Strong Progress in First Year of Initiative to Improve Health of Millions of Women and Children in the Developing World
” … Since its launch last September, Johnson & Johnson has laid a strong foundation for measurable impact in several areas toward Every Woman, Every Child, the United Nations’ Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health to reduce mortality in women and children by 2015, including: expanding health information for mothers over mobile phones, helping to increase the number of safe births, doubling donations of treatments for intestinal worms in children … Johnson & Johnson more than doubled its donation of mebendazole, a treatment for intestinal worms in children, through its Children Without Worms program, up from 36 million doses in 2010 to 80 million doses by the end of 2011. The Company plans to continue to expand this program to distribute 200 million doses each year in 30 to 40 countries by 2015.”

Award-Winning LifeStraw® Water Filter Makes North American Retail Debut
“The award-winning LifeStraw® personal water filter is now available to consumers in the U.S. and Canada for the first time. The portable filter—used since 2005 amid harsh conditions in developing countries—removes bacteria and parasites from water, and is ideal for outdoor activities, overseas travel, and emergency preparedness. LifeStraw® is an elegantly simple but technologically advanced innovation. The filtering tube measures about nine inches long and one inch in diameter, and weighs less than two ounces. It removes virtually all bacteria (99.9999 percent) and protozoa parasites (99.9 percent) that can contaminate water, and it reduces turbidity (muddiness) by filtering out particulate matter.”

Rethinking Global Collaborations to Improve Global Health

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Soil-transmitted helminths (STHs) affect more than 1 billion people worldwide, and are rampant within the most destitute areas in the developing world. STH infection, which includes Ascariasis one of the seven most common NTDs, is caused by ingesting eggs from contaminated soil and results in intestinal infection of worms. These infections can be treated through mass distribution of drugs provided by pharmaceutical companies; such interventions can be facilitated through private-public partnerships, and cross-sectoral collaborations. William Lin, Director of Corporate Contributions at Johnson & Johnson recently wrote a blog post about this very subject for InterAction’s blog, “Aid Buzz.” Below is an excerpt from Mr. Lin’s blog post; click here to read the piece in its entirety.

By: William Lin, Director of Corporate Contributions at Johnson & Johnson
Reprinted from InterAction’s Aid Buzz

“Last month in Geneva, leaders from government, business and non-governmental organizations met to continue the development of the strategy to coordinate efforts to combat one of the most prevalent – yet preventable – infectious conditions in the world. Intestinal worms, also known as soil transmitted helminthes or STH, affect nearly one in four people on the planet, and until recently, bringing the condition under control seemed like a daunting task. However, with the recent commitment of medicines from Johnson & Johnson and GSK, reaching the 600 million school-age children that are at risk suddenly became an attainable goal. “

A Foundation for Good Health

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By: Kim Koporc, Director, Children Without Worms (CWW)

Those of us in global health far too often see the consequences that people living in developing countries face because basic human necessities – clean water and sanitation – are not available to them.  In addition to causing diarrheal diseases, lack of access to clean water and sanitation is also a culprit in many neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) particularly intestinal worms. Today, World Water Day, serves as a reminder of how much disease could be prevented if people had access to clean water.

Through the partnership with Johnson & Johnson, CWW distributes mebendazole to reach school-age children in eight countries. However, de-worming alone is not enough, so our work focuses on an integrated approach that will not just rid children of worms once they are infected, but break the cycle of infection.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) is best known for its conservation work, but it has also been a key partner in our effort to bring Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) under control in Cameroon because good human health and good environmental health go hand-in-hand.

CWW began collaborating with the World Wildlife Fund’s Population-Health-Environment (WWF-PHE) program in Cameroon to promote the WASHED framework – a comprehensive approach that advocates for access to water, sanitation, hygiene education and de-worming medication to minimize the risk of STH infection.  The PHE program works in the southwest of the country, in villages bordering the Lobeke National Park. The program partners with the local government and a Catholic hospital to promote hygiene, access to potable water, improved sanitary latrines and de-worming school-age children, among other health-promoting activities. Continue reading →