US help India to fight AIDS

[Guest guest]

US help India to fight AIDS

Washington, July 16. (PTI): The United States has a " broad and deep-

rooted " involvement in India's health sector and has contributed

significantly to programmes related to controlling HIV/AIDS, the US

Agency for International Development (USAID) has said.

" In fiscal year 2004, the US government committed approximately

$27.5 million to fight HIV/AIDS in India " , said Victor Barbiero,

chief of USAID's Implementation Support Division.

USAID provides about half of that amount, focusing primarily

on " expanding prevention work and integrating it into broader health

services and food activities, " he said.

Task force created

A task force, intended to build bipartisan consensus in the US on

policy initiatives related to the prevention, care and treatment of

HIV/AIDS, has been created following the release of a September 2000

report by US National Intelligence Council (NIC).

India, China, Russia, Ethiopia and Nigeria were identified by the

report as likely settings for a " second wave " of the AIDS pandemic.

The countries were selected because of their strategic importance to

the US and their relatively large populations.

They were confronting early- to mid- stage epidemics of HIV/AIDS

that presented a potentially grave threat in the absence of

sustained prevention efforts.

Combination of epidemics

According to the Task Force, the epidemic in India is not a single

outbreak but a combination of epidemics that are local in nature,

each with its unique challenges and solutions. The risk groups are

small, dispersed and mobile, and stigma and discrimination are

rampant.

USAID's Barbiero said the development agency works closely with both

the central government and state health ministries in India, as well

as with local and international NGOs.

Another major US government player in HIV/AIDS projects in India is

the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which works

through a variety of different agencies.

HHS offers research grants and promotes vaccine development through

the US-India Vaccine Action Programme.

In addition, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

supports improvements in important laboratories and other facilities

in India, as well as operational research connected with both

prevention and treatment.

American NGOs are major supporters of HIV/AIDS work in India.

According to the CSIS Task Force, many US NGOs do not operate

programmes themselves but provide grants to operating organisations,

including local and international NGOs and research organisations.

One private-sector foundation that operates programmes directly is

the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which also funds the CSIS

Task Force. According to CSIS, the Gates Foundation has committed

$200 million over the past five years to programmes in India and is

the largest single donor.

" The Avahan (Sanskrit for " call to action " ) programme has devoted

most of its resources to focused interventions in the six Indian

states with the highest HIV prevalence and along national highways, "

said Helene Gayle, director for programmes on HIV, tuberculosis and

reproductive health at the Gates Foundation.

http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/001200507161028.htm