Gates Foundation launches AIDS initiative in AP

Rs 23 crore will be spent on prevention & awarness programmes in AP

Avahan, a Rs 117-crore AIDS initiative by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, was launched here on December 10. Formally launching this multi-pronged programme at the state secretariat, chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu hoped to check the growth of HIV/AIDS completely in the state with the combined effort and expertise of Avahan and the state government.

"The biggest challenge in containing the HIV infection is the behavioural patterns of the community, as 90 per cent of the cases in the state are sexually transmitted," he said.

The Gates foundation has drawn the services of Hindusthan Latex Family Planning Promotion Trust (HLFPPT), International HIV/AIDS Alliance, Transport Corporation of India(TCI) foundation and the Population Services International(PSI) to implement the preventive and awareness programmes.

Under the Avahan initiative, HLFPPT and International HIV/AIDS Alliance will implement projects to reduce HIV transmission among commercial sex workers in 20 districts with Rs 23 crore.

The amount doubles in the second year. The projects will establish clinics for STI diagnosis and treatment, promote condom use, and provide HIV prevention training to NGOs that provide services to commercial sex workers.

While TCI foundation will implement similar programmes exclusively for truckers along the national highways, the PSI will work among the other high risk groups. Each of the four organisations will get a grant of $8.5 million each for the implementation of these programmes.

Speaking on the occasion, chief minister Chandrababu Naidu said that the incidence of HIV transmission have come down from 2.3 per cent to 1.53 per cent among pregnant women and from 29 per cent to 20.76 per cent among STD patients in the last four years due to the government's efforts in the state.

"The government will release Rs 5 crore for the capacity building in the AIDS prevention campaign. A pilot project to take care of the HIV-infected children will soon be launched," he said.

Meenakshi Datta Ghos, the additional secretary and project director of National AIDS Control Organisation, said that the organisation has repositioned its focus giving equal importance to all the four roots of HIV transmission.

Ashok Alexander, the director of Avahan, said that Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are the first two states in which Avahan is launched. Kodela Sivaprasadarao, the minister for health, also attended the programme.