The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation has awarded four new grants to help improve awareness, prevention and care of hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) in China and India. The grants total nearly $1 million USD and bring the Foundation’s commitment to reducing hepatitis-related health disparities in Asia to $8 million USD over the past three years.
The grant recipients were announced at the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver (APASL) 2011 Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, where leaders in the hepatology field gathered to promote scientific advancement and education in the Asia Pacific region.1
The mission of the Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation is to help reduce health disparities in communities where the need is greatest. China and India together have an estimated 123 million people chronically infected with HBV and 59 million people chronically infected with HCV, accounting for almost 50 percent of all HBV and HCV infections worldwide.2, 3
The Foundation’s work related to hepatitis in Asia falls under the Delivering Hope™: Awareness, Prevention and Care umbrella programme. To date, Delivering Hope has supported 32 programme grants across Asia, specifically 14 grants in mainland China, three in Taiwan, 12 in India and three in Japan.
