16th July, 2009
Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), visited two of AMREF’s programmes in Kenya and Uganda. During his visit he announced his company’s latest commitments to the fight against HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Speaking at AMREF’s Zingatia Maisha Positive Action HIV Project in Kibera, one of Africa’s largest informal settlements, Witty announced £50 million in new funding for HIV/AIDS research, prevention, and treatment, with a special focus on mother-to-child transmission.
“We must do a better job at preventing HIV in children,” Witty said. “This [£50-million] fund will be for NGOs like AMREF and others who work to prevent mother-to-child transmission and who work with orphans and vulnerable children.”
AMREF Deputy Director General, Dr Florence Muli Musiime applauded the move: “AMREF welcomes GSK’s commitment to long term partnerships to find solutions to Africa’s health challenges,” she says. “This fund represents an opportunity for organisations like AMREF to continue to strengthen Africa's health systems, and to build on the gains we’ve made in the fight against HIV in recent years.”
The announcement came on the first day of the GSK chief executive’s two-day tour of AMREF projects in Kenya and Uganda. AMREF and GSK have successfully worked together on some of Africa’s most intractable health issues, such as HIV and malaria since 1988. GSK currently supports AMREF projects in Kenya and Uganda, including Zingatia Maisha, which helps HIV-positive people to access and maintain antiretroviral drug regimens.
“AMREF understands Africa and we are very happy to work with an organisation that knows the programmes and what we are trying to achieve,” says Justine Frain, GSK’s VP of Global Community Partnerships.
