The Coca-Cola Company Joins (RED) to Help Eliminate AIDS

The Coca-Cola Company announced a multi-year partnership with (RED) to raise awareness and money for the Global Fund's efforts to virtually eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV by 2015.

The partnership includes an initial commitment of more than $5 million USD from The Coca-Cola Company over the next four years. This commitment will fund marketing awareness campaigns activated through global Coca-Cola music initiatives and programs. As part of the $5 million USD contribution, a minimum of $3 million USD will be donated directly to The Global Fund to purchase anti-retroviral medicine and distribute literature.

"It's encouraging to think that we could witness an AIDS-free generation during our lifetime," said Muhtar Kent, Chairman and CEO, The Coca-Cola Company. "We're proud to help this effort and believe it complements the current work we're doing in many parts of the world to educate and prevent HIV/AIDS as well as provide support to people affected by this preventable and treatable disease."

This new partnership complements the work The Coca-Cola Company and The Global Fund are already partnering on in Africa. The two organizations are leveraging insights from the Coca-Cola supply chain and route-to-market system to help improve access to critical medicines.

The Coca-Cola Company operates in 206 countries and is one of the largest employers in the world. The Coca-Cola system employs nearly 70,000 people in Africa, which is home to more than 60 percent of the world's HIV-infected population.