Gates Foundation To Give $25 Million to Indian State of Andhra Pradesh To Fight HIV/AIDS
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced plans to give $25 million for HIV/AIDS prevention to the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh as part of a previously announced $200 million grant to fight HIV/AIDS in India, the AP/Minneapolis Star-Tribune reports (AP/Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 12/12). The $200 million gift represented a doubling of the Gates Foundation's efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in India, and Bill Gates said that the funds were intended in part to help efforts to reduce the social stigma surrounding the disease in the country (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 12/8). The $25 million grant will be distributed over five years to the Hindustan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the Transport Corporation of India Foundation and Population Services International, according to the Hindu Business Line (Hindu Business Line, 12/11). The four private agencies will use the funding to promote condom use, encourage behavior change to prevent HIV infection and improve the diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in 20 of the state's 23 districts, according to the AP/Star-Tribune. The program will focus on high-risk groups, including sex workers, migrant laborers and truck drivers (AP/Minneapolis Star-Tribune, 12/12). Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said that HIV/AIDS is a development problem in India because most people affected by the disease are young and in their productive years, the Hindu Business Line reports. Andhra Pradesh has the second highest number of HIV-positive individuals of any state in India, according to the Hindu Business Line (Hindu Business Line, 12/11).
Karnataka
The Gates Foundation last week announced plans to give a $25 million HIV/AIDS prevention grant to Karnataka, another state in southern India. The $25 million grant to the state of Karnataka will go toward counseling and testing, condom distribution and improved diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases in 15 of the 27 districts in the state. The grant marks the first time the Gates Foundation has given money to a state agency in India; previously, the foundation has donated money to nongovernmental organizations in the country (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 12/8).