Bristol-Myers Squibb committed to good causes

Editor's note: Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation, a charity fund supported by pharmaceutical giant Bristol-Myers Squibb, recently announced its first hepatitis C philanthropic project on the Chinese mainland. The launch of this project indicated that the foundation's "Delivering Hope" philanthropic programs would be further expanded from the prevention and control of hepatitis B to hepatitis C. President of Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation John Damonti and Phangisile Mtshali, the foundation's "Delivering Hope" director, visited China to announce the new project and discussed the foundation's sustainable "Health Philanthropy Model" with China Business Weekly reporter Liu Jie.

Q: Would you like to introduce the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation to us?

Damonti: Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation was established in 1954. The foundation is a completely independent entity from the Bristol-Myers Squibb company. It is equivalent to an NGO. It was founded by the pharmaceutical company, but as an institution we work to promote the mission to support patients with no direct benefit to the company.

The mission of the foundation is to help reduce disparity around the world. We are looking at how the community can support patients for greater health outcomes. We look at that by not only mobilizing community support services that can support patients and families, but also looking at how to improve the healthcare workforce whether it is professional or non-professionals, such as through school-based approaches.

Q: What has your foundation done in China?

Damonti: Our foundation's work in China began in 1997, when we started funding projects on HIV and nutrition. Till today, we have totally invested over 38.5 million yuan in China. The company has also supported issues around disaster relief and charitable medical support, so the total philanthropic support from Bristol-Myers Squibb to China has exceeded 60 million yuan.

Active devotion to health philanthropy is an integral part of Bristol-Myers Squibb's corporate mission, that is, to extend and enhance human life. Since "Delivering Hope" programs were launched in China in 2002, we have carried out a series of charitable programs and campaigns for raising awareness, prevention and control of hepatitis B, leveraging the company's expertise in fighting diseases like hepatitis B while fully considering China's special medical conditions and requirements.

Q: How about the new hepatitis C project of "Delivering Hope"?

Mtshali: We are cooperating with Shanghai Charity Foundation to carry out the project. It is a nearly two-year study on the education model of hepatitis C control and prevention. This project is first of its kind to establish three tailor-made education models for medical workers, patients and their family members respectively. We estimate 1,100 medical workers, 1,000 hepatitis C patients and 1,200 hepatitis C patients' families will benefit from this. So far, we have donated over 20 million yuan in China to "Delivering Hope".

Q: Can you tell us about your sustainable "Health Philanthropy Model"?

Mtshali: Our "Health Philanthropy Model" consists of three pillars, which are serving local needs where the company has strong expertise, building a sustainable model by helping to build capacity for the local partners, and using a comprehensive approach in the prevention and control of disease.

For the first pillar, we can take hepatitis B projects as an example. Bristol-Myers Squibb has strong expertise in hepatitis B prevention and treatment with abundant resources, such as disease education, experts, and community program management experience. Thus, the company and the foundation can meet the different needs of public and medical workers in terms of hepatitis B information. As the infective rate of such a disease remains high in China, the Ministry of Health has put hepatitis B prevention and control at the top of its agenda in the country's 11th Five-Year Plan, to decrease the infective rate of hepatitis B to below 7 percent by 2010. The efforts of "Delivering Hope" meet the actual needs of the Chinese government in hepatitis B prevention and control.

For the second pillar, we realized that compared to the huge needs of health philanthropy in China, the resources provided by companies are always limited. Therefore, to maximize the philanthropic benefits, a better practice would be to build a sustainable model that can be copied or extended to other areas or projects even after the completion of the designed program.

Developing a good disease prevention and control strategy needs comprehensive knowledge and professional study of the epidemic. Practice-based research is the main focus of our "Delivering Hope" programs. Epidemiology research and patient awareness surveys have been conducted over the past few years. In 2005, we supported the Chinese Foundation for Hepatitis Prevention and Control's study on the current and emerging health challenges of the disease. So far, the study's White Paper is the most comprehensive research about hepatitis and its related socioeconomic issues in China.

For the third pillar, as we know, in China, hepatitis B is known for its high infective rate and wide demographic coverage, influencing several kinds of high-risk groups during the spreading process. With great exploration and efforts on new channels, new methods and a new model, the "Delivering Hope" program has already covered all main sections of the hepatitis B transmission chain, including mother-to-child infection, education programs for primary students, university students, and migrant workers as well as training for medical workers. Furthermore, the program has covered almost all of the areas hardest hit by hepatitis B in China, including Gansu, Shaanxi and Fujian provinces, the Ningxia Hui autonomous region, and the Pearl River Delta Area.

Q: Amid the global recession, many companies have reduced their spending on charitable activities and many foundations are facing financial difficulties. How about you?

Damonti: Actually, as a pharmaceutical company, Bristol-Myers Squibb has not been directly impacted by the global financial crisis.

As our company evolves to a new model, which is the bio-pharmaceutical model - being much more focused on very specific diseases, the foundation will evolve this way as well. And as you can see, we are very much focused.

The company has 10 disease areas, but we don't have the resources to address all of them. So rather than being very broad and not having much impact in any specific field, we are very focused in terms of targeting four disease areas in four geographical areas and developing some comprehensive programs we can learn from.

I just want to add that Bristol-Myers Squibb did have a very good year in terms of earnings in 2008, and the company decided to fund the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation for the next three years, demonstrating its strong commitment to philanthropy.

(China Daily 03/02/2009 page10)