The Indian government’s HIV-AIDS prevention and response program was on Tuesday administered a booster shot by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The foundation is set to pump in $23 million over the next three years for the efforts to combat AIDS.

A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been signed in this regard between the Indian government and the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation. The MoU is expected to focus on technical management of India’s AIDS campaign. The $23 million is part of the foundation’s $58 million committed towards Avahan, India’s anti-AIDS program that focuses on program management and technical capacity at the national and state levels. Avahan, which was kick-started by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation way back in 2003 in its bid to provide community-driven HIV prevention services to socially vulnerable sections of people, currently is active in as many as 76 districts and across 535 towns in the country.

The funding comes following the foundation’s recognition of the fact that AIDS awareness is very important for India. The foundation has also reiterated that it would invest heavily in India in the fields of medicine manufacturing and health infrastructure. Apart from the investment to be made in the next three years’ time, the foundation also has plans to invest $258 million over the next five years towards its AIDS initiative in India.

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation will provide support for training the staff of National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) and State AIDS Control Societies (SACS) to enhance their skills in the area of project and financial management.

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