Press Releases 2008

Dr. Evan A. Feigenbaum
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs
Remarks at Health Fair 
U.S. Consulate General
American Center, Kolkata
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
FACT SHEET ON INDO-US COOPERATION IN PUBLIC HEALTH

April 2, 2008

• President George W. Bush announced the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (Emergency Plan/PEPFAR) in 2003 — the largest international health initiative in history by one nation to address a single disease.   In India, there are an estimated 2 – 3.1 million people living with HIV.   Through the Emergency Plan, the U.S. Government (USG) and its partners are working in partnership with the Government of India to support the third National AIDS Control Plan (2006-2011).  Under PEPFAR, India received nearly USD 29.9 million in FY 2007 to support an integrated HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care program.

• The Public Affairs Section (PAS) of the U.S. Consulate Kolkata held several programs to focus on HIV/AIDS to commemorate World AIDS Day (December 1) in November and December 2007.  Programs were organized to reach out to a wide cross-section of society.  Medical practitioners helped youth, trade union leaders, truck drivers, religious leaders, elected legislators, and those living in the slum areas understand HIV/AIDS in simple terms.

• With Bihar emerging as a state with pockets of high HIV prevalence, Kolkata’s PAS and the Bihar Legislative Forum presented a program to build awareness about HIV/AIDS among Bihar State's legislators in Patna.  The program also drew the attention of the politicians to the World AIDS Day 2007 theme of “Leadership” and the role these elected leaders role can play in spreading the message about HIV/AIDS among their constituents.

• The United States, already the global leader in funding efforts to combat Avian and Pandemic Influenza, has pledged USD 629 million to support the efforts of international organizations, non-governmental organizations and others to strengthen global preparedness and response to Avian Influenza (AI) and a potential human influenza pandemic.  In fiscal year 2007, the U.S. government provided approximately USD 4.7 million for U.S.-India collaborative programs on seasonal influenza, avian influenza, and pandemic preparedness.

• To support greater awareness following the recent avian influenza outbreak in West Bengal in its efforts to fight the avian influenza outbreak, the United States’ Agency for International Development (USAID) provided USD 110,000 to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) for informational programs on AI.  These funds will support technical assistance to the Government of India and state governments’ communication programs to prevent the further spread of Avian Influenza.   Assistance will also be provided to other states in the eastern region at risk from the recent outbreaks, such as Bihar and Jharkhand, focusing on backyard poultry farmers and vulnerable communities.

• In December 2007, the Kolkata Public Affairs Section organized a workshop to educate journalists about Avian Flu which saw participation from senior journalists of Eastern Indian and of Bangladesh.  As recent events have shown, the workshop has proven very useful for the participants, who are now in the vanguard of covering the latest AI outbreak here in West Bengal.

• The U.S. Government is India’s committed partner to ensure success in the final push to eliminate polio from this country.  The U.S. provides technical and financial support to India’s polio elimination efforts by assigning long- and short-term technical staff, providing vaccine, and supporting surveillance and social mobilization networks.  Annually, USAID provides approximately USD 6 million to UNICEF, the World Health Organization and other non-governmental organizations and the Center for Disease Control’s (CDC) extensive polio eradication efforts make it one of the largest supporters of polio eradication efforts in India.
  

• Tuberculosis remains one of the leading infectious causes of mortality in India, resulting in 364,000 deaths annually.  To supports India’s fight against TB, CDC provides substantial technical support for national efforts to prevent and treat Tuberculosis. CDC provided technical and financial support for the preparation of India’s report on Tobacco Control, which was published in 2004.  The USAID has provided USD 4.17 million to the WHO for research and state level implementation of the national disease control program.

• The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and CDC have a long relationship of collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research’s National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases (NICED) on studies of enteric parasites over the past several years.  In January 2008, Consul General Henry Jardine handed over to NICED a check for Rupees 1.4 million to enable NICED to conduct a pilot study to assess the prevalence of enteric parasites and risk factors involved in the transmission of these parasites in HIV/AIDS patients.

• In 2006, Institute of Molecular Medicine (a not-for-profit scientific organization sponsored by The Chatterjee Group), RTI International (US) and Duke University were awarded a 5-year program by HHS, NIH, and the National Institutes of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to unravel the genetic basis of variability in immune response of individuals to cholera and typhoid. At USD 26 million, this is the largest NIH contract to India.