Wall Street Journal Profiles Organization Helping African Countries Secure Safe Blood Supplies To Prevent Spread of HIV
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday profiled the Safe Blood for Africa Foundation, which was founded in 1999 to help African countries establish safe blood supplies to prevent the spread of HIV. SBAF provides countries with millions of paper-based blood-testing kits that cost between 80 cents and $1.30 each and trains health care workers in donor screening, blood transfusion and blood-banking procedures. Exxon Mobil, Abbott Laboratories, Global Med Technologies, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, USAID and the World Bank provide approximately 70% of SBAF's funding, as well as supplies and equipment. The foundation has become "well-established" in Africa and currently works with 18 countries on the continent, according to SBAF founder and Chair Jeff Busch, the Journal reports. "We are building up the organization and its capacity so we don't hurt or weaken existing projects. There's still lots to do in Africa," Busch, a former investment banker and U.S. human-rights representative to the United Nations, said, adding that SBAF is expanding its operations to parts of Asia, Eastern Europe and South America (MacMillan, Wall Street Journal, 6/1).
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