Africa had a better track record than India: Gates
By siliconindia   |   Saturday, 25 July 2009, 00:43 IST   |    3 Comments
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Africa had a better track record than India: Gates
Bangalore: The $1 billion amount donated to India by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a relief fund of Microsoft's Chairman Bill Gates, for projects to control immunization, maternal and newborn health and tobacco problems, are yet to be aptly utilized by the government. "The Indian government's immunization program had immense room for improvement, as in measles immunization and control, Africa had a better track record than India," said Bill Gates. The Gates foundation is looking at other areas in India where it can play a catalytic role. They are looking at new drugs against visceral leishmaniasis (kala azar), and trying to determine how to deploy them. Bill Gates has announced to increase the investment in Avahan, an India-based initiative which aims for reducing the spread of HIV, from $258 million to $338 million by 2013-14. He also hinted that the 'Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation' will 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. Gates stated the Indian government's move for decriminalizing the section 377 from the Indian Penal court as the right choice. He will meet the Union Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to discuss plans to "transition" the activities of Avahan to the Indian government and non-government agencies. Meanwhile, he expressed Microsoft's interest in working with India to issue Unique Identification to each citizen. "Microsoft wants to be part of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) project," said Gates, who will meet UIDAI Chairman Nandan Nilekani.

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