Gilead Sciences Announces Its Largest Commitment to Health Equity for Australian and Canadian Indigenous Communities

By: Gilead Sciences, Inc. via Business Wire

July 23, 2023 at 17:00 PM EDT

– $6 Million USD in Funding Will Help Address Health Disparities Among Indigenous Communities with a Focus on HIV and Viral Hepatitis –

Gilead Sciences Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced its largest commitment to health equity for Australian and Canadian Indigenous communities. The initiative will support programs addressing societal barriers to care that persistently contribute to the transmission of HIV and viral hepatitis within Indigenous communities.

Gilead is in discussions with two Indigenous-led organizations, the Lowitja Institute in Australia and CAAN Communities, Alliances & Networks in Canada, to create the new $6 million USD grant program, with funding divided equally between the two countries and invested over three years. The grant program will provide financial support to frontline organizations and initiatives.

This program is a targeted effort to help address the disparities in health outcomes impacting Indigenous communities, resulting from the ongoing effects of colonialization in each country. In comparison to non-Indigenous people in each country, Indigenous Peoples in Australia and Canada experience a higher incidence of HIV and viral hepatitis infections and increased barriers to diagnosis and treatment.^{i, ii}

“We recognize that the Indigenous communities in both Australia and Canada have unique healthcare needs,” said Alex Kalomparis, Senior Vice President, Public Affairs, Gilead Sciences. "Gilead's new funding program will help promote engagement in HIV and viral hepatitis care by supporting culturally appropriate solutions that address these needs, while enabling Indigenous people to continue advocating for the care of their communities."

By listening to and working with Indigenous-led organizations, Gilead believes this commitment can translate to meaningful support of innovative and culturally appropriate projects that address the disproportionate rate of HIV and viral hepatitis in Indigenous communities.

Gilead’s funding commitment underscores the company’s unique efforts to increase health equity and help end the HIV epidemic globally through robust community partnerships and philanthropy. In 2022 alone, the Gilead Foundation and Gilead Corporate Giving donated a combined nearly $300 million globally. Other corporate giving programs include Zeroing In® the Gilead COMPASS Initiative^® and RADIAN^®.

More information on the program will be announced in the coming weeks in both Australia and Canada.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19 and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.

About Lowitja Institute

Lowitja Institute is Australia’s only national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled health research institute named in honor of its Patron, Dr Lowitja O’Donoghue AC CBE DSG. It is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organization working for the health and wellbeing of Australia’s First Peoples through high impact quality research, knowledge exchange, and by supporting a new generation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health researchers. For more information, visit https://www.lowitja.org.au/.

About CAAN

CAAN is a national, Indigenous organization who is leading the response to HIV and AIDS through empowerment, education and community. CAAN provides a forum for Indigenous peoples across Canada to (w)holistically address health issues, with a particular focus on HIV, hepatitis C (HCV), sexually transmitted blood-borne infections (STBBIs), and tuberculosis (TB). CAAN produces culturally relevant resources to assist and empower Indigenous peoples in preventing infectious disease through Indigenous Ways of Knowing and Doing (IWKD); respecting the diverse Indigenous peoples of our lands, acknowledging differences and accentuating unity and strength in a spirit of wholeness, healing, and cultural safety. For more information, visit https://caan.ca/.

Gilead, the Gilead logo and the Creating Possible tagline are registered trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.

For more information about Gilead, please visit the company’s website at www.gilead.com, follow Gilead on Twitter (@Gilead Sciences) or call Gilead Public Affairs at 1-800-GILEAD-5 or 1-650-574-3000.

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i} Ward et al. 2021. HIV infection in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. HIV Management in Australasia a guide to clinical care. ASHM. Available at: https://hivmanagement.ashm.org.au/hiv-infection-in-aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people/ Accessed June 2023

ⁱⁱ CAAN. 2018. Documenting Lessons Learned and Measuring Progress Towards Global HIV, Tuberculosis, Viral Hepatitis, and Sexually Transmitted Infection Targets in Indigenous Communities.