$244 million to treat HIV/AIDS in India

The Indian government this week signed grant agreements with the Geneva-based Global Fund worth over $244 million to help people living with HIV and AIDS.

The overall goal of the grants will be to reach and diagnose an estimated 65 percent of the HIV infected people in India and link them to care, support and treatment services.

India is among the top three countries with the highest number of AIDS cases, alongside South Africa and Nigeria. But with only one-third of HIV cases being treated, it poses a threat to the country’s prevention measures.

One of the grants signed worth $128 million is specifically for pregnant mothers.

“There are about 65,000 HIV-positive pregnant women in India,” Nalin Mahta, a senior communications officer at the Global Fund told Vatican Radio. “What we are seeing at the moment is that the coverage of services to them is just about 20-25 per cent. The aim of this grant is to significantly expand the scope of this coverage and to take it up to 65 per cent over the next three years.”