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Major public health initiatives

GSK supports public and community health initiatives in developing countries through donations of preventative medicines, and financial and practical support.

We focus this charitable support on efforts to tackle three major diseases - lymphatic filariasis (LF or elephantiasis), HIV/AIDS and malaria - as well as our PHASE education programme to reduce diarrhoea-related disease. We partner with non-profit organisations to progress these efforts.

For more information on our community investment programmes in 2005, see Community investment.

Progress during 2005

Eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis (LF)
GSK is a founding partner in the Global Alliance to Eliminate LF. LF is a disfiguring disease prevalent in tropical countries and one of the world’s leading causes of permanent disability.

The Global Alliance is a partnership between pharmaceutical companies, the World Health Organization, Ministries of Health, NGOs and community organisations, aiming to totally eliminate LF by 2020.

We have committed to provide as many doses of albendazole, our anti-parasitic drug used to prevent transmission of LF, as are needed to treat the one billion people at risk in 80 countries. In 2005, we opened a new albendazole manufacturing facility in Cape Town, South Africa. This will give us the capability to support LF elimination efforts in all at-risk countries.

In 2005, we donated 136 million albendazole treatments, worth £14.3 million ($25.8 million) valued at wholesale prices, to 36 countries. Two new countries joined the programme in 2005. We have donated over 400 million treatments since 1998, reaching over 100 million people.

We also gave almost £1 million ($1.8 million) in grants during 2005 to support the Global Alliance to Eliminate LF. A team of GSK employees helps the Global Alliance in its advocacy, research, community mobilisation and education initiatives.

In December 2005, GSK’s programme to eliminate LF won the top honour for Corporate Social Responsibility at the inaugural annual Scrip Awards, which recognise performance excellence in the global pharmaceutical and biotech industries.

Positive Action on HIV/AIDS
We recognise the need to support the communities most affected by HIV/AIDS and have a longstanding commitment as part of our community investment. Set up in 1992, Positive Action aims to strengthen the capacity of community based organisations providing HIV/AIDS healthcare services and to increase the number of people coming forward for testing and treatment by reducing stigma and discrimination. It recognises that involving people affected by HIV/AIDS is key to controlling the HIV pandemic.

We launched new Positive Action programmes in India, Kenya and Mexico during 2005, and we now have 20 Positive Action programmes running in 30 countries.

Positive Action is supporting the Reach India project which aims to make HIV/AIDS prevention, financial and business education available to millions of poor women in rural India. GSK is giving $500,000 (£275,000) that will be used to develop the capacity of community organisations and self-help groups to reach women in rural areas. In its first three years, this is expected to benefit 500,000 women and 2.5 million family members. Reach India is a project of Freedom from Hunger supported by Catholic Relief Services and Positive Action.

In Kenya GSK is giving £1 million ($1.8 million) over three years to integrate HIV/AIDS treatment and support services into 60 general healthcare clinics. This will enable patients to avoid the stigma of visiting an HIV clinic. Fewer than 10% of Kenyans know their HIV status.¹ Fear of stigmatisation is a significant barrier to people seeking testing, diagnosis and treatment services. Positive Action will also focus on training for healthcare professionals and the creation of patient self-help groups to increase awareness and support patients in sticking to their treatment regimes. The programme is a collaboration between GSK, AMREF (the African Medical and Research Foundation), Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation and the National Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV and AIDS in Kenya.

In Mexico we launched a three-year project with the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, and its Mexican partner, Colectivo Sol. The project aims to improve quality of life for people with HIV/AIDS, reduce stigma and discrimination, and help people protect themselves against HIV/AIDS through education and awareness raising.

For information on our arrangements to supply HIV/AIDS medicines at preferential prices to developing countries, see Preferential pricing.

GSK’s African Malaria Partnership
Our African Malaria Partnership supports education and behaviour change programmes in eight African countries, through partnerships with Freedom from Hunger, AMREF and Plan International.

GSK has invested $1.5 million in the African Malaria Partnership over three years. This is expected to benefit two million people by 2006, by encouraging effective prevention and prompt treatment, particularly among children and pregnant women.

In 2005, we gave a further $1.5 million (£824,000) three-year grant to a new partner, the Malaria Consortium (a UK NGO), to launch Mobilising for Malaria. This initiative aims to focus attention on malaria and generate political commitment and sustained funding to combat the disease. It will generate media coverage, increase the number of NGOs and community organisations engaged in tackling malaria, and give more African communities the knowledge and tools they need to prevent transmission of malaria.

Personal Hygiene & Sanitation Education (PHASE)
Every year more than two million people die of diarrhoea-related disease, mostly children in developing countries. These deaths can often be easily prevented through better hand washing and sanitation.

PHASE is helping to reduce diarrhoea-related disease by encouraging school children to wash their hands. GSK established PHASE in 1998 and has invested £1.5 million ($2.7 million) in the programme. PHASE is run in partnership with AMREF and Plan International - as well as Ministries of Health and Education.

The programme has had impressive results. For example, a study by AMREF in Kenya showed that after four years, 88% of children from participating schools washed their hands after using the toilet compared with 46% from non-participating schools.

PHASE was extended to Bangladesh during 2005 and now operates in six countries. Bangladesh is the first Asian country to take part in PHASE. In its first year, the programme will be implemented in 64 schools, reaching 20,000 children. GSK is working with a new partner in Bangladesh - Save the Children USA. PHASE will be integrated into Save the Children’s existing School Health and Nutrition Programme to ensure the project’s long-term sustainability after GSK funding finishes.

GSK has convened a PHASE steering committee with representatives from our partner organisations to help expand the programme into more countries.

¹ Source: Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2003 www.measuredhs.com

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