Nestle to Give Almost $2 Million to International Red Cross to Fight AIDS in Africa
Nestle, the world's largest food manufacturer, will give $1.92 million over the next three years to help fund the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies' Africa Health Initiative 2010, according to a Nestle press release. The program will initially focus on reducing the rate of HIV transmission in Nigeria, the continent's most populous country. Nestle Nigeria will work with the Nigerian Red Cross to target 1.2 million young people in 12 Nigerian states and provide home care and counseling to 7,000 HIV-positive people (Nestle release, 6/13). Didier Cherpitel, secretary general of the Red Cross federation, said that "new partnerships and ways of working are needed if people are to be reached and the epidemic stopped." Some AIDS activists say that large companies such as Nestle only give money to fight AIDS to improve public relations, while other activists welcome any monetary contribution. Nestle has been criticized in the past for marketing powdered infant formula in developing nations, especially in Africa. According to the World Health Organization, in "poor countries, where up to two-thirds of the people have no access to clean water and where mothers often are unable to read instructions properly, baby formula represents a hazard to newborns." Nestle said that its marketing of baby formula in developing countries is now in line with WHO regulations, although some activists disagree (Fowler, Associated Press, 6/13).
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