NACP III: AIDS funds to rise five times to a record Rs 11,585 crore

[Guest guest]

AIDS funds to rise five times

Bhuma Shrivastava

New Delhi, January 16, 2007. The Union health ministry has proposed

increasing funding of anti-AIDS/HIV programmes more than five times

to a record Rs 11,585 crore, supported by the World Bank, Bill &

Melinda Gates Foundation and other agencies. The funds are to be

spent over the next five years for prevention, care, support and

treatment of the disease.

The National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO), the nodel agency for

HIV, will administer the spending under the National AIDS Control

Programme (NACP) III. Scheduled to start from April 1, the programme

has got an in-principle approval from the Planning Commission. About

three quarters of the programme will be funded by the World

Bank. " UNDP, UNAIDS, ILO, Global Fund for HIV/AIDS, USAID and World

Food Programme will be providing assistance too, " said a NACO

official, declining to be identified.

The government has hiked allocation to care, support and treatment of

HIV infected, to roughly a third — roughly Rs 3,667 crore. The

remaining two-thirds of the allocation will be on spreading AIDS

awareness.

AIDS activists said the expansion of funding to fight HIV was welcome

but were unhappy with the monies set aside for treatment. " A lot

remains to be done for the care and treatment of the HIV-positive

people, " said Nivedita Dasgupta, director of Delhi-headquartered

Modicare Foundation.

The second phase of the AIDS control programme, NACP II, had an

allocation of Rs 2,065 crore and had spent merely 18-20% on the care

and treatment aspect. " There is sufficient awareness about this

disease in certain HIV high prevalence states and we need to focus on

the needs of those who have already contracted the disease in such

areas, " added a second NACO official, who too requested anonymity.

In NACP III, six states with high prevalence of HIV—Maharashtra,

Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Manipur and Nagaland—will

continue to be the focus but district-level fine tuning will be done

to ensure that HIV-infected districts elsewhere are not missed out.

The funding is adequate for five years, stated , advocacy

officer of the Indian Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS but the

government should provide expensive drugs in second stage treatment

as well.

Email Bhuma Shrivastava: bhuma.shrivastava@...

http://www.hindustantimes.com/news/181_1902432,0050.htm

[Guest guest]

Dear FORUM,

Sufficient funds indeed a good sign. As worker of the AIDS service

organisation we are happy, but wondering where is the integration?

Multisectoral approach?

In NACP III designing there is hardly talk about SRHR and HIV linkages

except the young people group.

We are currently implementing projects under UNDP TAHA(Trafficking and HIV

integration project for women and children). Its one of the most inspiring and

wanted program.

As anti trafficking work we have to work with issues around HIV and PLHA those

are trafficked survivor. In a 10 months project its just started and now we do

not know what is future of the project. After 7 months when the project is on a

momentum its seems its going to be wind up. We are concerned.

Any suggestion or any lights?

Subharthi Mukherjee

People Like Us (PLUS) Kolkata

254, Bonomali Banerjee Road

Kolkata - 700082, India

Phone: +91.9830510527

e-mail: <plus@...>