Avahan: Gates foundation in HIV prevention deal with MSACS

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A note on the meaning of " Avahan " follows this article. [Moderator]

Gates foundation in HIV prevention deal

Mumbai:By Pamela Raghunath

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the State of Maharashtra, through the

Maharashtra State AIDS Control Society (MSACS), yesterday announced the signing

of a memorandum of understaning (MoU) to expand access to HIV prevention in the

state.

The prevention activities will be funded by Avahan, the Gates Foundation's India

AIDS initiative and augment the ongoing HIV prevention efforts by the MSACS.

Avahan will provide grants to launch prevention programmes in Mumbai and 12

districts with high HIV prevalence. The Gates Foundation will announce the

specific grant recipients for Maharashtra in the coming months. The initiative

is part of the foundation's commitment of $200 million to support HIV prevention

in India, of which grants totalling $67.5 million were announced in October

2003. " The MoU is the culmination of six months of work between the Gates

Foundation and Maharashtra where we have identified specific gaps in HIV

prevention that the foundation can help to fill, " said Digvijay Khanvilkar,

Health Minister.

" I am excited by the opportunity this offers to scale up HIV prevention

efforts, " he added. Maharashtra and Mumbai have more than one million people

infected with HIV with over 22 out of 35 districts classified as high prevalence

by MSACS. India has the second largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS in

the world, currently estimated at approximately 4.5 million cases.

Although HIV prevalence nationwide is still relatively low at 0.9 per cent, huge

differences exist across states, districts and even villages. About 70 per cent

of HIV cases are located in four southern and western states, including

Maharashtra and the North-East states of Manipur and Nagaland.

Being an economic capital and a magnet for migrants, commercial sex workers from

neighbouring states come here. Several national highways run through the state

and about 12,000 trucks enter Mumbai each day.

In the eastern and central parts of Maharashtra, poverty and illiteracy

contribute to a lack of awareness about HIV/AIDS, a high degree of mobility and

high-risk sexual behaviour.

A high percentage of men living in the high prevalence districts of Maharashtra

and long-haul truckers on the highways report having unprotected sex with

commercial sex workers and other non-regular partners.

http://www.gulf-news.com/Articles/news.asp?ArticleID=110387

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The Gates Foundation's India AIDS initiative is named as Avahan. The meaning of

Avahan is: " to carry, transport, convey; to lead, conduct; to bear along; to

draw, guide; to lead towards, to bring, procure, bestow; to cause, effect; to. "

It is also a Rgvedic Word Concordance [moderator]