Agreement Helps Children in 3 Central American Countries, Haiti and Dominican Republic

Washington, D.C., December 16, 2004 (PAHO)—Children and families in three Central American countries, the Dominican Republic and Haiti are benefiting from an innovative partnership led by the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Catholic Medical Mission Board (CMMB) designed to reduce infant mortality and the effects of childhood illness and to improve growth and development of children under 5. The initiative will continue offering community healthcare services in 2005 and beyond to reach the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), as a result of a new public-private partnership between PAHO, CMMB and the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation today announced a $400,000 grant to CMMB to bolster its partnership with PAHO in Action for Family Health. The partnership is designed to implement the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness Strategy (IMCI) in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Honduras, Dominican Republic and Haiti. The Bristol-Myers Squibb grant will help strengthen the capacity of the Ministries of Health and faith-based organizations to coordinate and increase IMCI efforts in these countries.

"We are delighted to join hands with CMMB and PAHO to help reduce childhood illnesses and mortality in Central America and Haiti," said Peter R. Dolan, Chairman and CEO of The Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. "We hope other private sector partners will join us in improving the health and future of children in Latin America."

"We are pleased to welcome the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to the CMMB/PAHO partnership," said Dr. Mirta Roses, director of PAHO. "We hope this public/private relationship will help save children's lives by strengthening the capacity of health systems in the countries to detect and treat common diseases of childhood such as diarrhea and pneumonia, which can be fatal if untreated."

The IMCI strategy is used to reduce childhood mortality by improving family and community practices for home management of illness, and improving the case management skills of health workers and the health system. IMCI was developed as a healthcare strategy by UNICEF and the World Health Organization with the aim of prevention or early detection of childhood killers. The partnership will also provide essential drugs including antiretrovirals, and includes efforts to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS.

In the five countries, actions are underway in 36 dioceses, 122 community sites and 242 health facilities, with an estimated target population of 3 million persons, including 446,000 children less than five years of age. The project uses a network of Catholic faith-based organizations such as Caritas, Pastoral de la Salud, Catholic universities, and others to help reduce mortality rates and to increase country coverage and access of the population to benefits from qualified health services.

The Action for Family Health goal to prevent child deaths is critical to the ministries of health in the countries because infant mortality rates are alarming. The under-5 mortality rate in Haiti is 109.6 per 1,000 live births, in Dominican Republic it is 52.1, in Honduras 47.3, in Nicaragua 44 and in El Salvador the rate is 32 deaths per 1,000 live births.

Every year more than 11 million children in developing countries die before reaching their fifth birthday, many during the first year of life. In Latin America and the Caribbean, more than 300,000 children under five years of age die each year from illnesses that can be easily prevented or treated. Half of these deaths are due to acute respiratory infections, diarrhea, malaria, measles or malnutrition, and often a combination of these ills. It is estimated that 30 percent of the population does not have access to primary health care services.

Action for Family Health, which was initially launched by PAHO and CMMB in March of 2003, supports the Millennium Development Goals to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds, to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS, improve maternal health and reduce maternal mortality rates by the year 2015.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation works to create meaningful and sustainable improvements in the health and education of people around the world, through partnerships and innovations that actively fulfill the mission to extend and enhance human life.

Since 1928, CMMB has served as the leading U.S.-based Catholic charity focusing exclusively on international healthcare, particularly the well-being of women and children. In FY2003, total support to CMMB reached over US$142 million. That support allowed CMMB to implement healthcare programs and provide more than US$125 million in medicines and medical supplies to more than 50 countries worldwide. CMMB works collaboratively to provide quality healthcare without discrimination to people in need throughout the world. More information at www.cmmb.org.

PAHO, which also serves as the Regional Office for the Americas of the World Health Organization, has been working for more than 100 years with all the countries of the Americas to improve the health and raise the living standards of their peoples.