SC Johnson, A Family Company, today announced a collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) on global efforts to combat malaria. The organizations will jointly support research programs conducted by Cornell University Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise and a consortium of Indonesian research institutions to advance the development and use of consumer products in the fight against the spread of the disease.
This collaboration allows SC Johnson to build on its experience in malaria education and prevention, as well as enhance its efforts to bring economic growth to some of the world's poorest communities.
It also supports BMGF's mission to reduce global health inequities in order to save lives and dramatically decrease the burden of disease in developing countries. "The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is making huge strides in fighting poverty and disease in developing countries," said SC Johnson's Chairman and CEO Fisk Johnson. "We are honored to be affiliated with a group that is committed to implementing solutions that significantly change people's lives for the better."
The collaboration, with financial support from both SC Johnson and BMGF (and in-kind personnel and product resources from SC Johnson), will fund a study through Cornell University Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise. The project, led by Dr. Mark Milstein, will work to develop a consumer-level, market-based solution to malaria infection among at-risk populations. Its ultimate goal is to create a business model that will implement change in a base of the pyramid (BoP) market. Currently, SC Johnson has two existing BoP partnerships in place in sub-Saharan Africa.
The partnership between SC Johnson and BMGF will also support a research study conducted by a consortium of Indonesian research institutions led by Hasanuddin University, under the guidance of Dr. Din Syafruddin, to demonstrate the effects of consumer products in repelling malaria-infected mosquitoes in Indonesia. Funding will come from BMGF with in-kind personnel and product resources from SC Johnson.
Based on the outcomes of these studies, SC Johnson will evaluate potential development of next generation products that are effective in the fight against malaria. These multi-year research/implementation programs are slated to begin in early 2010.
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