U.S. Ambassador Calls on India to Develop Workplace Policies on HIV/AIDS, Announces Corporate Fund to Fight Virus

U.S. Ambassador to India David Mulford on Thursday called on the country's private and public sectors to become engaged in the fight against HIV/AIDS by establishing workplace policies for the disease, the Hindustan Times reports. Workplace intervention initiatives should include prevention programs and voluntary counseling and testing services, Mulford said during an address to the Indian Chamber of Commerce. Indian companies also should work to end discrimination and reduce the stigma associated with the disease, he added (Hindustan Times, 8/18). He also said the U.S. government and India's National AIDS Control Organization are planning a corporate fund that will aim to curb the spread of HIV/AIDS. The fund will be managed by a private financial institution. The U.S. will provide $30 million to India, Mulford said (Hindu Business Line, 8/19). UNAIDS estimates that more than five million HIV-positive people live in India, and NACO says about 103,000 of those people are living with AIDS (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/12).

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