Bill Gates

New Delhi, July 23: Bill Gates today hinted that his foundation would scale back its six-year-long effort to reduce the spread of HIV in India but was ready to increase funding support in other health areas.

But not before an additional dose of $80 million for HIV control.

The software czar-turned-philanthropist, who co-chairs the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said the foundation would increase its commitment to Avahan — an India-based initiative aimed at reducing the spread of HIV — from $258 million to $338 million up to the year 2013-14.

The foundation expects non-government agencies and community groups that have benefited from its support to sustain the HIV prevention programmes on their own beyond that period, foundation officials said.

“The foundation does not believe in continuous funding,” an official said. “At some point, we hand it over to local agencies to continue the work. It’s the same model we follow in other countries,” the official said.

Gates, who will receive the Indira Gandhi Prize for Peace, Disarmament and Development later this week, said the foundation was prepared to raise support for other health issues, including vaccines to protect children from pneumonia and viral diarrhoea, and drugs against kala azar, a parasite infection widespread in several states in eastern India.

“We’re looking at other areas where we can play a catalytic role,” Gates said. “We’re looking at new drugs against visceral leishmaniasis [kala azar], and trying to see how [they] can get deployed. We need to aim for big reduction before elimination.”

The Gates foundation has so far committed nearly $1 billion for projects in India which also include immunisation, maternal and newborn health and tobacco control efforts.

He said the Indian government’s immunisation programme had “immense room for improvement” and pointed out that in measles immunisation and control, Africa had a better track record than India.

Gates is scheduled to meet Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad tomorrow to discuss plans to “transition” the activities of Avahan to the Indian government and non-government agencies.

Avahan-supported programmes have reached an estimated 220,000 commercial sex workers, 80,000 gays and about 5 million men at risk of becoming infected with HIV.

Responding to a question about India’s homosexuality laws, Gates said the Indian government has had a hard time in reaching out to men who have sex with men — a group at high risk of HIV.

“I come from the US where the notion of social freedoms is very strong,” Gates said. “It appears as society gets more wealthy, attitudes towards women or gay groups tend to improve,” he said. “I hope the same thing happens in India.”

“But we’re here to help with health issues,” Gates said.