India should be included in Bush's AIDS plan: US think tank

NEW DELHI (AFP) Mar 02, 2004
With 4.58 million people living with HIV/AIDS, second only to South Africa with five million, India is a fit case for US President George W. Bush's "emergency plan" for AIDS relief, a Washington-based private think tank said Tuesday.

"India does not have the prevalence rates that have devastated some African countries but it has an epidemic that already affects the general population and that could explode with little notice," said a report published by the US Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

"This is the moment of strategic opportunity for India. If AIDS goes out of control, there will be an impact both on the domestic and international fronts," said Teresita C. Schaffer, CSIS South Asia director, while releasing the study in New Delhi.

"The strongest way to signal real engagement is to make India eligible for funding under the President's Emergency Plan," Schaffer said.

In January, Bush unveiled a plan to "meet a severe and urgent crisis abroad, for AIDS Relief", pledging 15 billion dollars over five years to meet the crisis.

Fourteen countries have since been included in the plan, mostly from Africa, while the US Congress has mandated the addition of a 15th country, which the report said should be India.

TERRA.WIRE