The Associated Press reported in September 2010 that health giant Johnson & Johnson is donating about $200 million in cash and medicine to a sweeping United Nations program to improve the health and lives of people in poor countries.  Johnson & Johnson is launching a five-year program called "Every Mother, Every Child" to help about 400 million women and children in developing countries by:

v  donating medicine to treat intestinal worms in children.

v  sending pregnant women messages on their cell phones about prenatal care.

v  working to make childbirth safer.

v  continuing research on innovative treatments for the HIV virus and tuberculosis, both of which disproportionately affect women and children in developing countries.

The Johnson & Johnson effort is part of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, an ambitious international effort to improve basic needs and rights for everyone in the world, including freedom from extreme poverty and hunger, productive employment, quality education, good health and shelter, equality between the sexes, and environmental sustainability. For more information see the Johnson & Johnson website.