The Global Fund Renews $100 million HIV Grant for India

[Guest guest]

The Global Fund Renews $100 million HIV Grant for India

New Delhi - The Director of the Department of Economic Affairs of the

Government of India, Mr. Prashant, and the Executive Director of the

Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, Dr Michel

Kazatchkine, today signed a grant agreement worth more than US$ 100

million for the second phase of a program fighting AIDS in India.

This new grant brings the total approved amount of Global Fund

resources to battle the three pandemics in India to US$ 492 million.

The grant was originally approved during the Global Fund's fourth

funding Round. Implementation of the grant began in 2005. Recently,

the grant was successful in clearing the Global Fund's Phase 2

process. The Phase 2 process is designed as a checkpoint in a grant's

lifecycle. Funding is initially committed for the first two years of

a proposal period. Only those grants with satisfactory performance

receive further financing to continue for the remaining three years.

" This is very positive news for India's fight against AIDS and the

many people living in the country, infected with HIV and/or affected

by the disease, " said Dr Abumani Ramadoss, Minister of Health and

Family Welfare of India. " These new resources will be put to use in

the best possible way, building on the strong performance of the

program during its first two years. "

The grant's Principal Recipient, the Department of Economic Affairs

of the Government of India, will use the money to strengthen and

scale up antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programs throughout the

country and to increase access to quality voluntary counseling and

testing services. Resources will also be used to tackle stigma

associated to the disease through efficient communication efforts and

to train more health professionals.

" We are proud to continue funding the important work that is being

done to provide care and treatment to people living with AIDS and to

change social attitudes that leave so many vulnerable to stigma and

discrimination, " said Dr Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of

the Global Fund. " Stigma and discrimination associated with AIDS in

India are still delaying treatment and care for HIV-positive people,

and preventing people coming forward for testing. I urge the people

of India to step forward and talk openly about AIDS. "

Dr Kazatchkine and Mr Rajat Gupta, the Chair of the Global Fund

Board, are currently in India to visit Global Fund-supported programs

and meet with civil society and government officials.

While in New Delhi, Dr Kazatchkine called for business to become more

involved in the response to AIDS in the country. He encouraged

business leaders to continue discussions with the government and

policymakers that could lead to beneficial incentives for enhancing

private sector involvement in AIDS prevention and care. With about 80

percent of outpatient visits in India occurring in the private

sector, Dr Kazatchkine also called for more integration between

private and public sector health-care providers in India.

Global Fund support to India has provided ARV treatment to

approximately 80,000 people living with AIDS and TB treatment to more

than 245,000 people. Global Fund resources have also financed the

distribution of approximately 1.5 million insecticide-treated bed

nets to families at risk of contracting the disease. Important

partners supporting the Global Fund's mission in the country include

the World Health Organization (WHO), the Joint United Nations

Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the Stop TB and Roll Back Malaria

Partnerships and other multilateral organizations.

Since its creation in 2002, the Global Fund has become the dominant

financer of programs to fight AIDS, TB and malaria, with approved

funding of US$ 10 billion for more than 520 programs in 136

countries. So far, programs supported by the Global Fund have averted

two million deaths through providing AIDS treatment for 1.4 million

people, TB treatment for 3.3 million people, and through the

distribution of 46 million insecticide-treated bed nets for the

prevention of malaria worldwide.

Nicolas Demey - Communications Officer

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Mobile: + 41 76 436 43 20

Email: nicolas.demey@...

http://www.theglobalfund.org/en/media_center/press/pr_071220.asp