BMS donates grants to help African-American women fight Type 2 diabetes

NEW YORK — The charitable arm of Bristol-Myers Squibb has awarded five grants totaling $1.5 million to organizations that encourage African-American women with Type 2 diabetes to better manage their disease.

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation said it has awarded funds to the University of Virginia, East Carolina University, Whittier Street Health Center of Boston, Black Women's Health Imperative of Washington, D.C., and the United Neighborhood Health Services in Nashville, Tenn., as part of the drug maker's Together on Diabetes initiative, which is designed to improve health outcomes among Type 2 diabetics living in the United States. Each organization has received $300,000, two-year grants for their efforts to empower African-American women, while also leveraging their standing as leaders in their families and communities to influence the health of those around them, BMS Foundation said.

“African-American women represent one of the country’s highest risk groups for developing and suffering the impact of Type 2 diabetes,” Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Lamberto Andreotti said. “With these grants specifically focused on African-American women, Together on Diabetes is supporting innovative efforts to make self management programs work for African American women in the context of their lives.”