Re: Gates 'uninstalling' its Program from India: Clean but there will be Major System Failures

[Guest guest]

Dear Sir,

I would be grateful if you could post this on the AIDS-India site, in answer to

an article entitled " Gates 'uninstalling' its Program from India: Clean but

there will be Major System Failures "

I note the article repeats inaccuracies and mischaracterizations published in a

recent edition of Outlook magazine. Although we haven't tried to correct every

mistake, I'm hoping that this letter, to the editor of Outlook from Ashok

, the head of the Gates Foundation in India, will go some way to

correcting the misconceptions.

This letter was sent to Vinod Mehta, the Editor in Chief of Outlook magazine.

Dear Sir,

I read with disappointment last week's article about the Bill & Melinda Gates

Foundation's work in HIV/AIDS prevention in India. The article contains

significant errors and mischaracterizes many aspects of the initiative.

Let me just address just a few of your inaccuracies. Outlook suggests the Indian

government is reluctant to take over the programme, yet we are working closely

with the Indian government and other organizations to ensure prevention efforts

continue over the long term. Moreover the process of this handover is a gradual

transition over the next five years; it is anything but a sudden exit.

Based on the latest evidence, we are seeing declining or stable HIV trends in

the states where we work, not rising as you stated. These statistics are taken

from antenatal care data, a recognized way of monitoring such trends.

Avahan support has made it possible to provide prevention services to hundreds

of thousands of high-risk individuals every month. While it is too early to

fully assess Avahan's long-term impact, early signs are encouraging -- data from

some projects suggest these efforts are increasing condom use and reducing STD

infections.

You talk about poor monitoring and coordination of the programme, yet our

interventions are evaluated by a consortium of foreign universities,

international NGOs, and Indian academic institutions.

Their work is overseen by an External Advisory group, constituted by WHO. We

anticipate that these evaluations will show significant increases in condom use

and declines in sexually transmitted infections.

Outlook says we were unable to extend our reach, but we never planned to expand

beyond the six states that we currently target.

We have never made extravagant coffee-table publications. You mention AIDS

Sutra, a wonderful anthology of writing on HIV published by Random House, not

the foundation. Nor does a 'good chunk' of our money go on annual reports, as we

have not written one.

We remain strongly committed to the fight against AIDS in India, and will

continue to support effective, sustainable prevention efforts.

Your article, badly researched and short on facts, does a disservice to the

thousands of people from vulnerable groups who work on Avahan.

Yours

Ashok

Penny s

Advocacy and Communications

Global Health

V +91 4100 3100

F +91 4100 3101

E penny.richards@...

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

www.gatesfoundation.org <http://www.gatesfoundation.org>