With the scheduled visit of Melinda and Bill Gates to Hyderabad on November 14, the Hepatitis-B vaccination programme would be extended to six more districts in Andhra Pradesh. The vaccine programme, as part of the universal immunization campaign, was launched in November last by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation covering the six districts of Kurnool, Cuddapah, Chittoor, Ananthapur, Guntur and Mehboobnagar. The programme will now be extended to the districts of Krishna, Visakhapatnam, Srikakulam, Warangal, Adilabad and West Godavari. Gates would be launching the programme in the six districts. In order to cover the entire state under the programme by 2006, the state government has undertaken the task of funding it.

According to J Laxminarayana, special officer, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Information Education and Communication (IEC) campaigns would also begin in these districts along with poster campaigns to ensure that drop-out rates under the universal vaccination programme was reduced. The Foundation works in association with PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health), a Seattle-based organization working on non-profit basis on children's vaccine programme.

Orders for the Hepatitis-B vaccine is likely to be placed with Shanta Biotech who has got the approval from WHO for its indigenously made vaccine Shanvac-B. Recently, UNICEF had taken a token consignment of the vaccine from the company for distribution in the East European countries.

Meanwhile, Bill Gates is concerned about India's health. According to reports from Seattle, the Software Pasha whose legendary wealth has midwifed the world's largest philanthropic fund, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's $24 billion endowment, the emphasis on his four-day visit to India from November 11 to 14 would clearly be on health issues, especially the spread of AIDS.

The Gates Foundation has committed more than $5 billion worldwide since its inception in 1997, and now grants roughly $1.2 billion a year, mostly to the healthcare sector. India is one of the largest beneficiaries of a slew of programmes. To date, the Fund has committed about $ 27 million in grants directly to India and roughly $300 million in grants where India is one of the several countries benefiting from a project. His visit is aimed at boosting both the work of the Foundation's partners and raising the profile of health care issues.