Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - Monday November 11, 2002
The announcement came as Gates, sporting a red Hindu "tika" mark on his forehead, began a four-day trip to India with a visit to an AIDS clinic in the Indian capital, where he talked with HIV-positive patients.
The donation -- the largest single-country grant by his charity, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation -- would provide better access to HIV prevention measures for truck drivers, migrant workers and other mobile people who are seen as vulnerable to HIV infections.
According to official figures, India has four million HIV-positive cases, the highest after South Africa. But some reports estimate the number of people afflicted in India could burgeon to 20 million by 2010.
"Mobile populations are very much at risk on AIDS and on spreading AIDS in the general population," Gates told a news conference. He said his foundation would also help remove the social stigma attached to AIDS in India.
Activists say Indians with HIV have been thrown out of their jobs or homes and even refused treatment by doctors.
Indian Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha will chair a board that will administer the anti-AIDS program, Gates said.
Helene Gayle, director of the foundation's HIV program, told Reuters the $100 million was an initial amount with no timeframe for spending. The latest contribution brings to $600 million the foundation has allocated so far on its anti-AIDS program, she added.
Earlier, Gates, received a traditional Indian welcome, as he met patients suffering from HIV/AIDS at a Naz Foundation center. The foundation is a volunteer group working to heighten awareness about the disease.
He sat cross-legged on a mattress listening to volunteers.
DEFENDS CRITICISM
Gates, the richest man in the world and whose company dominates the computer software market, will also meet leaders, businessmen and technology experts during the visit.
A government spokesman said Gates met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and briefed him about his charity's efforts to spread AIDS awareness in India, and received assurances of government support.
Gates defended criticism that his foundation had upset people by backing the estimate that India was heading toward 20 million HIV cases. He said past estimates had proved to be low.
"There is no doubt that India has a serious problem on this front," he said.
Gates, on his third Indian visit in five years, is also expected to announce that Microsoft is stepping up its Indian software involvement, a source close to the company told Reuters.
Some 20 percent of Microsoft's engineers are of Indian origin and Gates said in a recent interview the company took a special interest in the country because of that.
Microsoft has a software center in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, one of the few outside the United States.
Gates is due to meet Indian President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who is keen to harness software for use by India's masses.
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