Mobilizing the Private Sector in Jamaica

Merck has been working in the Caribbean to spur a broader private sector response to HIV and AIDS. In 2004, Merck awarded a grant to the AIDS Responsibility Project, which, in conjunction with the Constella Futures Group, supported the creation of a national business council on HIV and AIDS in Jamaica. The project aims to reduce stigma and discrimination in the workplace and to mobilize companies to formulate specific workplace policies on HIV and AIDS, with the goal of increasing disease awareness and prevention efforts, care, counseling, testing and, if needed, treatment. The establishment of the business coalition builds upon similar efforts that Merck has supported with partners in Mexico and Venezuela. This initiative, which also receives funding from USAID, serves as a model for regional Caribbean efforts to mobilize the private sector to take a more active role in fighting HIV and AIDS.

HIV and AIDS Education and Awareness in Brazil

With some 720,000 people infected with the HIV virus, Brazil is estimated to have approximately one third of Latin America’s HIV-positive population. In response to the epidemic and in support of the Brazilian government’s well-recognized commitment to address HIV and AIDS, Merck’s Office of Corporate Philanthropy and MSD Brazil provided financial support to HIV programs developed by local nongovernmental organizations, focusing primarily on prevention, education and awareness. These organizations have included Grupo de Amparo ao Doente de AIDS, which supported the creation of a mobile unit for HIV/STD prevention and assistance to offer pre- and post-test counseling for HIV and AIDS in São Jose do Rio Preto.

A number of projects also have focused on adolescents and young adults — an especially vulnerable group. In Brazil, Centro Corsini’s “Prevention Just in Time” project is aimed at increasing screening, diagnosis and early treatment of HIV and AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases among low-income teenagers and adults in the city of Campinas. Another project, “Prevention: The Sooner The Better” with INMED Partnership for Children, supports sexual health education and information and HIV/STD prevention programs for young people in the town of Francisco Morato, São Paulo.

The content on this page was last modified on September 15, 2009.

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