Nike, Ashoka`s Changemakers announce winners in competition

Collaborative Competition Highlights Social Innovations through Sport

Washington, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Nike and Ashoka's Changemakers are pleased to announce the winners in a global search for innovations using sport to create social change:
-- Grassroot Soccer, Using the Power of Soccer in the Fight Against AIDS, South Africa: Leverages soccer's popularity to educate youth on HIV and AIDS prevention.
-- Rede Jovem Project, Sports and Social Transformation Via Mobile Phones, Brazil: Uses SMS mobile phone technology to communicate life enriching opportunities to young people who otherwise lack access to such information.
-- Sports4Kids, Putting the Play Back in School Playgrounds, United States: Provides fun and structured physical activity and conflict resolution training to low-income kids.

Each winner will receive $5,000. All finalists are invited to join competition sponsors, investors, and media at a prestigious global Change Summit.

"Nike congratulates the 16 finalists and 3 winners of the competition," said Hannah Jones, Vice President Corporate Responsibility, Nike, Inc. "A key achievement of the competition has been the formation of a community of changemakers who are providing value to each other and demonstrating that there is a movement growing that believes in the transformative power of sport. Nike is proud to be part of this movement."

The competition attracted more than 380 diverse, cutting edge ideas from nearly 70 countries. Sports as the driver for social change is a revolutionary idea and one to which the world has really responded, said Ashokas Changemakers Executive Director, Charlie Brown. This competition is paving the way for an exciting movement where sport is social change.

Nike and Ashoka's Changemakers will launch a second collaborative competition in September, 2008.

Nike, Inc. is the worlds leading designer, marketer and distributor of authentic athletic footwear, apparel, equipment and accessories for a wide variety of sports and fitness activities. http://www.nike.com.

Ashoka's Changemakers is building the world's first online open source community that competes to surface the best social solutions to the worlds most pressing issues. To date Changemakers has attracted more than 2,000 solutions from more than 125 countries. http://www.changemakers.net.

SOURCE: Ashoka's Changemakers
CONTACT: Tito Llantada of Ashokas Changemakers,
+1-703-600-8257, tllantada@ashoka.org
Web site: http://www.nike.com
http://www.changemakers.net

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Lilly Grants US$4.4 mln to WHO for MDR-TB program expansion

Indianapolis, IN., and London, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Today Eli Lilly and Company announced its four-year grant of $4,384,000 to the World Health Organization (WHO) for scaling up its global capacity to manage multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) programs.

The grant covers four activities, starting with the technical assistance the WHO will provide to developing countries that the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria operations do not cover. The WHO will provide assistance to some 25 countries in their clinical management of MDR-TB, infection control, laboratory facilities and community outreach. Second, the WHO will conduct workshops for health care personnel so they can better design and manage TB programs, for laboratory technicians so they can test for first and second line drug susceptibility, and for administrative personnel to record and report on TB incidence in their countries. A third component is support for training global MDR-TB experts so they can expand training in developing countries, run workshops in infection control, and strengthen laboratories for proper diagnosis and treatment. Finally, the grant will support the field-testing and evaluation of a new information system to record and report on MDR-TB rates in two countries.

"This grant represents Lilly's continued commitment to support the WHO in its goal of treating 50 million TB patients and 1.6 million MDR-TB patients by 2015. It builds upon existing WHO and Lilly program successes in curbing the MDR-TB pandemic," says Alex Azar, senior vice president of corporate affairs and communications for Lilly. "With drug resistance at an all time high, the engagement in fighting MDR-TB comprehensively is more important now than ever."

Since 2003, approximately 30,000 patients have been enrolled on treatment in WHO Green Light Committee approved projects. Country officials and healthcare personnel have consistently identified the training of human resource management a major challenge to accelerating the global scale up of MDR-TB treatment programs. Lilly funds are instrumental for in-country capacity building for MDR-TB control. Eight regional training workshops have been conducted in high TB burden areas, training some 160 senior TB officers and health workers in WHO guidelines for the programmatic management of drug resistant TB. To complement this training, Lilly supports the monitoring and delivery of technical assistance, including the production of second-line TB medications, to over 20 Green Light Committee approved projects.

"Confronting the threat of MDR-TB is a priority for WHO," said Dr. Mario Raviglione, director of the WHO Stop TB Department. "Our scale-up efforts have prompted the expansion of MDR-TB programmes in some of the world's poorest countries. I am delighted that Lilly will continue to support our goal to strengthen measures to diagnose and treat all MDR-TB patients. This commitment is an important contribution and confirms Lilly's position as a key partner in the fight to push back the spread of drug-resistant TB."

"The expansion of WHO programs joins those of the larger Lilly MDR-TB Partnership -- a five-year-old alliance of 14 public and private organisations fighting MDR-TB from every angle. We will continue to learn lessons from existing programs and improve our initiatives to best serve those suffering from MDR-TB, and to best prevent its spread," Azar said.

About Lilly

Eli Lilly and Company, a leading innovation-driven corporation, is developing a growing portfolio of first-in-class and best-in-class pharmaceutical products by applying the latest research from its own worldwide laboratories and from collaborations with eminent scientific organizations. Headquartered in Indianapolis, Ind., Lilly provides answers -- through medicines and information -- for some of the world's most urgent medical needs. Additional information about Lilly programs is available at www.lilly.com and www.lillymdr-tb.com

C-LLY

SOURCE: Eli Lilly and Company
CONTACT: U.S.:
Carole Puls,
+1-317-277-1421,
pulsca@lilly.com, or
U.K.:
Nick Francis,
+44-1256-775201,
theedge@lilly.com,
both of Eli Lilly and Company
Photo: NewsCom: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20071109/CLF001LOGO
PRN Photo Desk: photodesk@prnewswire.com
(LLY)

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AIDS Healthcare Foundation shares World Bank concerns

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) and AHF/India Cares today announced its strong support for a Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM)

New Delhi, (ANTARA News/PRNewswire-AsiaNet) - Call for an independent inquiry into allegations made by the World Bank (WB) concerning the second phase of National AIDS Control Programme (NACO) projects implemented throughout India.

The NACO projects and efforts in question have been supported in part by these two international donors. AIDS Healthcare Foundation will also request that Manmohan Singh, the honorable Prime Minister of India, and who is also the Chair of National AIDS Council (NAC), the highest authority to address HIV AIDS in India, takes cognizance of these allegations and use his influence to help weed out corruption at NACO in an effort to restore faith in the government AIDS system, which has been failing the people of India.

"Like the Global Fund, AHF is very concerned by the corruption allegations made by the World Bank, which has greater ramifications for future resource allocations in the fight against the epidemic in India and globally," said Dr. Chinkholal Thangsing, Chief, Asia Pacific Bureau, AIDS Healthcare Foundation based in New Delhi.

Dr. Thangsing also expressed disappointment with the slow action by the World Bank, stating, "Sadly the World Bank has remained a silent spectator for all these years when similar corruption allegations were first reported as early as 2005." He added, "The World Bank should invest in good governance and greater involvement and participation of civil society organizations in the government programs. This is crucial and would significantly check and help fight corruption of all forms and at different levels within the Indian healthcare system."

"We were shocked and appalled at the manner in which the corruption has surfaced in the NACO health programs meant to save lives of millions. I worry that large donors such as the World Bank and the Global Fund took too long to wake up to the rampant corruption within NACO and the State AIDS Control Society (SACS) and will now be forced to take action," Terri Ford, AHF's Director of Global Advocacy, currently deployed in India, expressing concern about the continued corruption and the possible cut off of global funds to fight AIDS.

"The mother in need of treatment in India is going to be the one who suffers from this corruption and its exposure -- not the bureaucrats. AHF encourages the abolition of inherent corruption, but we also are here to advocate for clients and patients who need the services the World Bank and the Global Fund support. It is time for zero tolerance on corruption in HIV/AIDS care in India -- something that is long overdue."

About AHF/India Cares

AHF/India Cares centers provide testing, psycho-social support services and anti-retroviral treatment including both pediatric and second-line treatment. The facilities provide comprehensive HIVAIDS care and treatment and holistic services, and serve as one-stop shops for people living with HIVAIDS (PLWHAs). In the Asia/Pacific region, AIDS Healthcare Foundation currently provides free anti-retroviral treatment and services to people in need through its clinics and programmes in India, Nepal, Thailand, Viet Nam, Cambodia and China.

About AHF

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) is the US' largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare, research, prevention and education provider. AHF currently provides treatment, care and support services to more than 62,000 individuals in 20 countries worldwide in the US, Africa, Latin America/Caribbean and Asia.

Additional information is available at www.aidshealth.org http://www.aidshealth.org

SOURCE: AIDS Healthcare Foundation
CONTACT: INDIA, Chinkholal Thangsing, MD Asia Pacific Bureau
Chief (New Delhi), +91-98-1827-0687 mobile,
chinkholal.thangsing@aidshealth.org,
or Dr. Mahesh Ganesan, Advocacy Coordinator,
+91-11-4174554141, +91-11-4174554142, or +91-99-1133-1998
mobile, mahesh.ganesan@aidshealth.org;
or UNITED STATES, Ged Kenslea, Communications Director,
+1-323-860-5225 work, +1-323-791-5526 mobile,
gedk@aidshealth.org, all for AIDS Healthcare Foundation

Website: http://www.aidshealth.org

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