A program established through a $100 million commitment by the pharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb will seek to help women and children in Africa struggling to survive the AIDS pandemic.

The company is calling its program "Secure the Future: Care and Support for Women and Children with HIV/AIDS." The five-year program will include a grants program for nongovernmental agencies working in South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Swaziland, the company says.

Details on the program's grant application process were being worked out, but information will be posted on the Web at http://www.securethefuture.com/applic/data/applic.htm.

The company did not say how much of the $100 million commitment will be in the form of grants to nonprofits.

The Secure the Future program also will establish the Bristol-Myers Squibb HIV Research Institute. Among its programs, the institute will train African physicians who will be awarded fellowships by the Baylor College of Medicine.

The institute also will provide local training of health care providers, the company says, and provide fellowships for U.S. doctors to teach and help with AIDS programs in Africa.

"(As)a major developer and manufacturer of medicines for the treatment of HIV/AIDS, we feel a moral obligation to take action against this grave situation in a manner consistent with our mission to extend and enhance human life," says Charles Heimbold Jr., chairman and chief executive officer of the company. "Our initiative is intended to complement the broader efforts of governments to identify relevant and sustainable programs for the management of HIV/AIDS."

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http://www.securethefuture.com/mediax/data/releas.htm