Global Fund Announces $140 Million Grant To India To Fight HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria on Tuesday announced a five-year, $140 million grant to India to help fight the spread of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis, Agence France-Presse reports. According to Global Fund Executive Director Richard Feachem, $100 million of the grant money will be used for HIV/AIDS programs and $34.7 million will go toward tuberculosis treatment programs (Agence France-Presse, 3/4). India, the largest country in South Asia, has four million HIV-positive people -- more than any other country except South Africa -- according to official estimates, and U.S. projections predict that that number could reach 20 million to 25 million by 2010 if prevention efforts are not expanded (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 2/6). Feachem on Monday during his first trip to India as head of the Global Fund said, "India needs to scale up its efforts to contain the HIV pandemic it faces, or else go the way that much of Africa has gone. ... India needs to focus on prevention, which costs money and requires forthright action. The Global Fund is prepared to provide the right money in the right way to the right programs to do that." Feachem added, "The responsibility for the success of this money depends on the ability of civil society and government to use it effectively to reach populations in need and prevent the spread of HIV" (Global Fund release, 3/3). While in India, Feachem is expected to meet with Union Health and Family Welfare Minister Sushma Swaraj to discuss intervention programs, including treatment and care programs and public-private partnerships, to fight the spread of HIV (Hindu, 3/5). More in-depth information on AIDS in India is available online on the kaisernetwork.org HIV/AIDS Issue Spotlight page.