Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Wall Street Journal - October 14, 2003
Marilyn Chase, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal
Last year Mr. Gates, the Microsoft founder-turned-philanthropist, visited India and pledged $100 million to fight AIDS in the subcontinent, where the next wave of the disease is expected to explode.
Currently, India has 4.5 million people infected with human immune-deficiency virus, the virus that causes AIDS. By 2010, India's caseload is expected to soar to between 20 million and 25 million people -- the highest estimate for any country -- according to a 2002 National Intelligence Council report to the Central Intelligence Agency.
The new grants, announced in New Delhi Monday, aim to decrease prevalence of HIV in high-risk groups, and stabilize it in the country's general population by 2008, said Prasada Rao, co-chairman of the board of the India AIDS Initiative.
With infection rates rising as much as 20% a year, India is at a "critical juncture," said Helene Gayle, director of the Gates Foundation's HIV/AIDS, TB and Reproductive Health Program. "We have only a small window of opportunity to prevent a widespread epidemic."
The money will help fund two broad prevention initiatives. The first offers comprehensive prevention services to high-risk populations in six hard-hit Indian states, including male and female sex workers, their clients, intravenous-drug users and others. Services include treatment of sexually transmitted diseases, voluntary testing and counseling, behavior change and condom promotion.
The second prevention project will address truckers and sex workers along 4,340 miles of roadways in India with clinics for sexually transmitted diseases, testing, condoms and behavior-change programs.
The expanded commitment and grant awards are an outgrowth of the trip Mr. Gates made to India last year. Led by his father, William H. Gates Sr., the foundation has about $25 billion in assets aimed at improving global health and education.
Write to Marilyn Chase at marilyn.chase@wsj.com
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