17 August 2022 - - US-based biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. (NASDAQ: GILD) has forged a new health equity collaboration with the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine and the Center for Minority Health and Health Disparities Research and Education (CMHDRE) at Xavier University of Louisiana's College of Pharmacy, the company said.

The collaboration is focused on addressing the inequities in HIV care for Black communities in the Southern United States.

Gilead said its health equity strategy focuses on collaborating with organizations that reach underrepresented and disproportionately impacted communities.

Research shows that inequities drive higher rates of HIV infection, as well as worse HIV clinical outcomes among Black Americans. The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted and exacerbated such health inequities, especially in the Southern United States.

SHLI and CMHDRE are at the forefront of efforts to improve access to HIV care for Black communities in the Southern US region.

Gilead will award a total of USD 4.5m in funding over a three-year period to support their work in three cities: Atlanta, Baton Rouge, La., and New Orleans.

This latest collaboration is part of Gilead's broader health equity strategy to support community organizations across the globe in addressing social determinants of health.

Other Gilead programs that address health equity include the COMPASS Initiative, a ten-year, USD 100m commitment toward addressing HIV/AIDS inequities in the US South, which continues to challenge the structural barriers that are most prevalent in Black communities.

Gilead's Zeroing In program supports communities in 41 countries that have been hit doubly hard by HIV and the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gilead also created a USD 10m Racial Equity Community Impact Fund to support organizations fighting the racial inequities that affect Black communities. In its most recent report, the Funders Concerned About AIDS named Gilead the number one overall philanthropic funder of HIV/AIDS programs.