Nov 11, 2002
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp Chairman Bill Gates announced on
Monday a $100 million grant to battle HIV/AIDS in India, which has the
world's second largest number of victims of the deadly disease.
The
announcement came as Gates, sporting a red "tika" mark on his forehead,
began a four-day trip to India with a visit to an AIDS clinic in the 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.
Union Health Minister Shatrughan Sinha will chair a board that will
administer the anti-AIDS programme, Gates said.
Helene Gayle, director of the foundation's HIV programme, 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 programme, she added.
Earlier, Gates, received a traditional Indian welcome, as he met patients
suffering from HIV/AIDS at a Naz Foundation centre. The foundation is a
volunteer group working to heighten awareness about the disease.
He sat cross-legged on a mattress listening to volunteers.
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 centre in Hyderabad, one of the few outside
the United States.
Gates is due to meet President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who is keen to harness
software for use by India's masses.
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