Gates Foundation’s Avahan gives $47 million in grants
By Our Corporate Bureau | 23 Mar 2004
New
Delhi: Avahan, the India AIDS initiative of
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, announced $47
million (Rs. 216 crores) in new grants to support HIV
prevention programmes for vulnerable populations in Maharashtra,
Tamil Nadu, Manipur, and Nagaland.
Rajat Gupta, senior partner of McKinsey & Company
and co-chairman of the Avahan Program Board and Ashok
Alexander, director of Avahan, announced the grants after
a meeting of the board. Patty Stonesifer, co-chairperson
and president of the Gates Foundation, Dr. Richard Klausner,
executive director of the Gates Foundation’s Global
Health program, and Helene Gayle, director of the foundation’s
HIV, TB and reproductive health programmes were also present.
The grants announced will support the following HIV prevention programmes:
- Tamil
Nadu: The Voluntary Health Services received a grant
of $13 million (Rs. 60 crores) to expand access to HIV
prevention services among vulnerable populations. Services
will include behavior change communication, condom promotion,
and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs).
The initiative will cover 16 of the state’s 28
districts that have the highest prevalence of HIV.
- Maharashtra:
Family Health International (FHI) and Pathfinder received
grants of $10.5 million (Rs. 48 crores) and $8.5 million
(Rs. 39 crores) respectively, to implement HIV prevention
services in Maharashtra. Their programmes will offer
behavior change communication, condom use promotion,
and STI services to vulnerable populations in the state.
FHI will implement the programme in Mumbai and Thane
while Pathfinder will initiate the activities in 10
other districts in the state.
- Manipur and Nagaland: The Australian International Health Institute received a grant of $5 million (Rs. 23 crores) to implement, in partnership with Emmanuel Hospital Association, HIV prevention services for intravenous drug users and other vulnerable populations in the Northeastern states of Manipur and Nagaland.
In
addition, Population Services International received a
grant of $10 million (Rs. 46 crores) to offer STI services
at existing and new clinics in the states of Tamil Nadu
and Maharashtra. PSI will also train and support health
care providers to treat STIs and conduct outreach to encourage
vulnerable groups to seek STI services.
“The grantees announced today have proven track records
of delivering HIV prevention services,” said Mr.
Alexander. “We’re confident that their efforts
can help control the epidemic’s spread in India.”
The Gates Foundation has committed $200 million (Rs. 920
crores) to HIV prevention in India through Avahan, the
foundation’s India AIDS initiative. This is the foundation’s
largest commitment to HIV/AIDS in any single country.
In October 2003, Avahan awarded $67.5 million (Rs. 310
crores) in grants to support HIV prevention in Andhra
Pradesh and Karnataka and along national highways. This
announcement brings the total grants awarded to date by
Avahan to $114.5 million (Rs. 526 crore).
Avahan (“call to action”) is a $200 million
grant making initiative of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation that supports programmes working to prevent
the spread of HIV in India.
Led by Bill Gates'' father, William H. Gates, Sr., and Patty Stonesifer, the Seattle-based Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has an endowment of approximately $26 billion.
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