Gates Foundation Doubles India AIDS Grant

October 14, 2003

By ASHOK SHARMA, Associated Press Writer

NEW DELHI, India - The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation said Monday it was

doubling to $200 million the prevention funds for HIV and AIDS that the

Microsoft founder promised India in a visit last year.

The announcement came as a former U.S. diplomat said India must educate its 1

billion people about AIDS or face a crisis.

Education " means talking about sex and intimacy. These are difficult problems in

any country in the world, not just in India, " said Holbrooke, who heads

Global Business Coalition for HIV/AIDS.

" But if you don't do it, millions of people will be infected and every infected

person will die, even with treatment, " Holbrooke, a former U.S. ambassador to

the United Nations, told a conference of government and business leaders Monday.

In increasing its contribution from $100 million to $200 million, India now

represents the Gates Foundation's largest financial commitment to any HIV/AIDS

initiative in the world, said Helene Gayle, director of the foundation.

The foundation also announced the first $67.5 million in grants, to be paid to

seven organizations in India over the next five years. Target groups of the

prevention strategy will include 300,000 commercial sex workers and 4.5 million

clients, among them truck drivers and their helpers along 4,400 miles of major

highways in India. The seven organizations will provide condoms, voluntary

counseling, testing and care, Gayle said.

The Indian government says about 4.5 million people are infected with the AIDS

virus, a number some experts consider a gross underestimate. Holbrooke also

questioned the government's figure, but said that even if correct, it will rise.

" India has the largest number of AIDS victims after South Africa, " he said.

" We have to speak frankly and openly to young boys and girls — 13 to 15 years

old — and tell them how AIDS is really spread and how to avoid it, " he said.

Ben Plumley, chief of staff of UNAIDS, said his organization was keen to deepen

its partnership with Indian industry in tackling the AIDS epidemic. The

conference held Monday was organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry, an

umbrella group of India's top business groups.

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