Karnataka government has received Rs 97.7 crore ($22 million) for a HIV/AIDS prevention project funded by the USAID. The Karnataka Health Promotion Trust and University of Manitoba will implement the project over a period of five years.

The project will be executed in Gulbarga, Bijapur, Bagalkot, Belgaum, Raichur, Koppal, Dharwad, Bellary, Davangere, Tumkur, Kolar and Bangalore rural districts. The urban care and support aspects will be implemented in cities of Bangalore, Mysore and Mangalore.

In order to ensure the total implementation of the project, the Karnataka government launched a project known as 'Samstha' to take HIV and AIDS prevention and related services in 12 districts and three major cities in Karnataka. The launch of the project aims to create awareness among the rural masses.

Using a multi pronged strategy, Samastha will offer HIV prevention services to high-risk rural individuals, HIV prevention services to the rural community at large with a focus on youth and other vulnerable groups and community-based care, support and treatment services in both the rural and urban areas. In addition, Samastha will build capacity and strengthen healthcare delivery system. It will undertake advocacy at all levels to create an enabling environment and mitigate the impact of HIV epidemic. It will gather data in project areas and monitor/evaluate project outcome.

It is estimated that Karnataka has more than five lakh people affected with HIV and AIDS and the numbers are growing in rural areas. Twenty districts, several of them in north Karnataka are of high prevalence with affected persons constituting 2.5 per cent of the total population. Karnataka is the only state with the rural prevalence exceeding that of the urban areas.

According to the 2005, surveillance figures of the Karnataka State AIDS Prevention Society, Bagalkot in north Karnataka are among the 12 high prevalence districts when it comes to HIV/AIDS cases in the state. The prevalence in the district alone is 2.88 per cent. It is 3.19 per cent in rural limits and 2.34 per cent in the urban limits. The Devadasi system, migrant labourers and child marriages are said to be root cause for such a high prevalence in the district and the other being the wealthy farmers who indulge in high risk behaviour for past time.