Clinton Visits India to Fight HIV/AIDS

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Clinton Visits India to Fight HIV/AIDS

On Thursday, May 26th former President Bill Clinton will visit New

Delhi, India to launch the Physician Training Initiative, a program

to train 150,000 private sector Indian physicians in HIV/AIDS care

and treatment over the next year. The Physician Training Initiative,

which will begin in June, 2005, will provide doctors with updated

information about the care, treatment, and prevention of HIV/AIDS.

By J. Clinton Foundation, The program is being organized the

National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) of India and by the

J. Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative. The UK Department

for International Development (DFID), along with their Sexual Health

Resource Center (SHRC), is supporting the program, as well as other

Indian and International Collaborators.

In addition to the launch of the Physician Training Initiative,

President Clinton will deliver remarks and participate in a

roundtable on the role of the private sector in India's battle

against HIV/AIDS at a conference sponsored by the Confederation of

Indian Industry (CII).

Also on Thursday, President Clinton will visit the AIDS clinic at

Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Delhi.

The Clinton Foundation, under a Memorandum of Understanding with the

Government of India, is assisting NACO in scaling up the

government's national antiretroviral treatment program to

approximately 188 centers across the country. The Clinton Foundation

partnered with the Indian Government in September 2004, and the

Physician Training Initiative is the latest in a series of ongoing

joint programs between NACO and the Clinton Foundation. In addition

to the training programs, the Clinton Foundation and NACO are

collaborating on many aspects of the national care and treatment

program, including upgrading the national laboratory systems,

improving procurement mechanisms, developing a national monitoring

and evaluation (M & E) system, and community mobilization efforts at

the state and local levels.

Since 2002, the Clinton Foundation HIV/AIDS Initiative has been

assisting countries in implementing large-scale, integrated care,

treatment and prevention programs. It partners with more than a

dozen countries in Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia; individual

governments take the lead and the Foundation provides technical

assistance, mobilizes human and financial resources, and facilitates

the sharing of best practices across projects.

http://www.rxpgnews.com/medicalnews/healthcare/india/article_1566.sht

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