NEW DELHI:

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has renewed its grant to India, worth more than $100 million for the next three years. This agreement was signed here on Thursday by Michel Kazatchkine, Fund executive director, and Prashant, director in the Department of Economic Affairs.

The grant brings the total approved amount of Fund resources for India to $492 million. The total amount approved by the Fund Board to be granted to India is $747 million, of which $160 million has already been disbursed.

The grant will be used to strengthen and upscale antiretroviral (ARV) treatment programmes and to increase access to quality, voluntary counselling and testing services. Resources will also be used to remove the stigma associated with AIDS through efficient communication and to train more health professionals.

Talking to reporters here, Dr. Kazatchkine appreciated India’s efforts at fighting the diseases but said there was no room for complacency. The focus had to be on awareness and universal access to drugs.New distribution pattern

Under a new pattern of distribution of funds, 40 per cent of the money would go to civil society and the remaining to the government to ensure that all stakeholders came together to fight the diseases. India, with its successful track record of healthcare workers and research, was an ideal place for promoting research, he said.

During his first official visit to India, Dr. Kazatchkine met representatives of the private sector to engage them in public-private partnership resource mobilisation and providing better healthcare to the workforce. “Several brand names like Armani, GAP and American Express have agreed to contribute part of their profits to the Global Fund to make them partners in this endeavour.”

Union Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss said the resources would be put to the best use, building on the strong performance of the programme during its first two years.

By shamsheer (H)