Preventing Disease and Reducing Stigma

As the world’s most comprehensive and broadly-based manufacturer of health care products, we have a responsibility to do all we can to prevent diseases and reduce stigma. To assist in those efforts, we partner with hundreds of community groups on programs to prevent HIV/AIDS infections, diabetes and other chronic diseases. We also work to help people and their families cope with the social stigmas and suffering associated with disease and mental illness.

Our Giving in HIV/AIDS
Since the first diagnosis of AIDS nearly 30 years ago, the HIV/AIDS epidemic has shown little signs of weakening, impacting millions of lives. Currently, more than 33 million people worldwide are living with HIV. The staggering rate of HIV infections is a stark reminder that much work still lies ahead.

We share in the global commitment to halt the AIDS epidemic. Through our diverse partnerships, we work to prevent the spread of HIV and reduce the burden of AIDS on women and their families. We support more than 120 HIV/AIDS programs spanning nearly 50 countries. Through Every Mother, Every Child a comprehensive, five-year, private sector effort launched in 2010, we strengthened our research and development commitment to bring forward new treatments to treat and potentially prevent HIV transmission from pregnant women to their infants, as well as new technologies that may, in the future, prevent the transmission of HIV between adults.

Johnson & Johnson supports a number of additional programs, including:

•Mothers2mothers (m2m), a program in seven African countries where HIV-positive mothers share their experiences and knowledge with pregnant women and new moms who have the virus.

• The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (EGPAF), which provides counseling for pregnant women, encourages HIV/AIDS testing, and refers women to additional care if their results are positive.

• Breakthrough, an international human rights organization that works to transform public attitudes and advance equality, justice and dignity for individuals in India and the United States.

• Girlz Got Skillz, a summit in Cape Town, South Africa, that uses the girls’ love of soccer to open up dialogue about HIV, promote healthy decision-making, and build confidence and self-esteem among participants.

• The Fuyang AIDS Orphan Salvation Association, partners with local and international organizations to give HIV/AIDS-infected and HIV/AIDS-affected children the health care, education and emotional support they need.

•The HIV/AIDS Education Lithuania Program (HELP), builds the capacity of local health institutions to provide care and support for individuals living with HIV.

Community Health Care Programs
For the past 20 years, Johnson & Johnson has provided nearly 150 grants to community-based health programs in the U.S. and Puerto Rico. Grants support innovative programs that ensure medically underserved people have access to quality health care services in their community.

For example, the Louisiana Breast and Cervical Health (LBCH) program is part of St. Thomas, one of the most comprehensive primary care facilities serving both insured and uninsured patients in New Orleans. The program was awarded a Johnson & Johnson Community Health Care grant in 2007, which allowed the clinic to hire Carmelita Johnson, a full-time mammogram technician. Eleven other Gulf Coast community health centers in four states also received grants to fund primary and preventive medical, dental and vision care services.

Children Without Worms
Globally, up to 400 million children suffer unnecessarily from intestinal worms, but fewer than 20 percent of at-risk children are reached with de-worming treatments. Our global program Children Without Worms, created in partnership with the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, is working with national and international partners to treat up to 25 million children a year with our drug mebendazole. To implement sustainable programs that include hygiene education and improved sanitation facilities, the program also works to establish partnerships at the international and national levels.

Healthy Land, Healthy People
Our “Healthy Communities, Healthy Ecosystems” partnership with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) links a healthy environment with the health of local people. Since 2003, we have supported innovative “Healthy Communities, Healthy Ecosystems” projects in ecoregions of East Africa, the Congo Basin, and the Eastern Himalayas.

Our partnership with WWF has made significant advances in promoting environmental conservation by improving human health. For example, a dispensary clinic for communities in the reserve was constructed to help improve community health and encourage local participation in natural resource management. The dispensary also provides safe drinking water in the reserve’s main villages.

Additionally, residents are learning about family planning options from newly trained health care workers from the Ministry of Health and Family Health International. Mobile clinics are reaching villages that have no access to quality health care, and people are receiving prenatal and postnatal care, immunizations, nutritional counseling, and education about environmental health and conservation efforts.