The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has inked a Memorandum of Cooperation with the National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) to reaffirm its mutual commitment to address the spread of HIV/AIDS in India. This will be done through the implementation, with NACO, under the Avahan programmes.

Avahan, launched in 2003 by the Gates Foundation provides funding and support to targeted HIV prevention programmes in six Indian states and along the national trucking routes.

The memorandum, signed by Ashok Alexander, the Director of Avahan, and Sujatha Rao, the Director General of NACO, has specified the areas of support each party expects to provide during the current phase of the National AIDS Control Programme phase III, and reiterates the mutual goal of ensuring the long term sustainability of programmes funded by the foundation.

"We have been able to cement our collaborative relationship with the government, and look forward to working with them in the next five years to impact the epidemic in India. We expect that Avahan's collaboration with NACO will ensure that all our partners will continue to receive the support they need and deserve", said Alexander.

NACO plans to constitute a Steering Committee to ensure long term sustainability of components of the foundation's HIV prevention programmes, including those with truckers, members of High-risk groups, and work with condom distribution.

During this phase, Avahan will provide financial and technical support to ensure that prevention programmes can be sustained over time. The Gates Foundation has already awarded more than $100 million in grants for this process.

In July, Bill Gates announced that the Foundation has increased its funding commitment to Avahan to a total of $338 million.

The foundation has committed nearly $1 billion for health and development projects in India. Globally it has committed approximately $11.95 billion in grants for global health.

Avahan funding and support has helped a wide range of partners - including government agencies and more than 100 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) to significantly expand access to HIV prevention. Every month, Avahan-supported programmes provide hundreds of thousands of people with risk-reduction counselling, access to condoms, treatment for sexually-transmitted infections, and other prevention services.

Data from some of Avahan's target areas suggest that sex workers have become more likely to use condoms, and that rates of sexually transmitted infections have decreased among people at risk. Several independent studies are underway to help evaluate Avahan's long-term impact.