Over $1m in New Commitments to Support Earth Institute Work

Today, two of the world’s leading companies announce grants and technical support totaling more than $1,000,000 aimed at ending global poverty by 2015. Nestlé and the Novartis Foundation for Sustainable Development each pledged support for the Earth Institute’s work through the Millennium Villages project (MVP) as world leaders gather at the Millennium Development Goals Summit this week. Nestlé’s generous $400,000 contribution will allow the MVP to pursue strategic maternal and child nutrition campaigns that promote greater and more reliable food access, local production of nutrient-rich foods, and nutrition awareness. And a new $630,000 grant from the Novartis Foundation will boost efforts to leverage technology to achieve the MDGs through a telemedicine initiative to improve point-of-service health care access and quality. A pilot project in the Millennium Village of Bonsaaso, Ghana, will develop a telecenter and integrate into the Earth Institute’s ongoing electronic- and mobile- health innovations, designed to demonstrate the efficacy of structured decision support to both community healthcare workers and clinic staff, improving care. These new commitments renew and expand Nestlé’s and Novartis’ membership in the Earth Institute Corporate Circle as Strategic Partners and demonstrate the kind of innovate collaborations needed to achieve the MDGs.