India: World Bank approves $255 million for national AIDS control support project

The World Bank today approved the fourth of a series of credits aimed at supporting India’s AIDS control program which seeks to curb the spread of HIV by 2017. The $255 million credit to the National AIDS Control Support Project will help accelerate AIDS prevention programs by targeting vulnerable groups at high risk of infection. So far the World Bank has provided a total of $525 million under the last three projects.

The new project will support the government of India’s National AIDS Control Program IV that focuses on prevention, behavior change communications and institutional strengthening. NACP IV will build on the successful experience of NACP III, which was focused on prevention programs, complemented by care, support, and treatment of people living with HIV and AIDS. The rate of new HIV infections fell by nearly 10 percent during the National AIDS Control Project III.

“India is fortunate in having successfully safeguarded 99 percent of its population from HIV but the low prevalence rate should not lull us into complacency. Without strongly sustained prevention programs among those at highest risk, the gains made in the fight against this epidemic could yet be lost,” said Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director for India.

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