AIF – Board of Advocates HIV/AIDS- Public Health in India
Author - Mira Kamdar
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I want to tell you about a unique opportunity to help address one of the critical problems facing a resurgent India; an opportunity for Americans, including Indian Americans, to make a real difference in helping India realize the promise of this incredible moment in its history.
No doubt, this moment belongs to India. Annual growth, pegged at 9.8 percent in
2007, is pushing double digits. More Indians – 36 – are listed on the Forbes billionaire list than citizens of any other single country. Foreign investment has reached an all-time high and Indian companies are expanding abroad at a rapid rate. The buzz in the international business world is that India, already known for its leadership in the area of services, may soon replace China as the preferred location for global manufacturing. Indian film, music, food and fashion have gone mainstream in the West, with Shah Rukh Khan and Aishwarya Rai becoming household celebrity names on a par with Brad Pitt and Nicole Kidman. Yoga is the fastest-growing leisure activity in the United States.
On its 60th anniversary as an independent democracy, India has much to celebrate, and Indian Americans can feel justifiably proud that the land of their ancestors is forging an Indian renaissance for the 21st century.
The rapid change happening in India, especially in urban centers, has fired the imagination of India’s youth – the largest youth population on Earth. Fully half of India’s 1.2 billion people are under the age of 25. That’s 600 million people. Their aspirations for a better life than their parents, a life of dignity that allows them to realize their full potential, have been kindled by India’s rapid transformation.
But, unfortunately, there is another side to the story of a resurgent India. A side that may see many of these young dreams of a better life dashed.
India remains a country divided between rich and poor. Alarmingly, that division does not appear to be narrowing. A report released by the government of India the week before the 60th anniversary of independence this past August 15 carried the disquieting news that up to half of working Indians earn 20 rupees per day or less. Twenty rupees: that’s 50 cents. Imagine trying to survive on 50 cents per day.
Forty percent of the malnourished children in the entire world call India home. China has an adult literacy rate of 90 percent. India’s is 61 percent. China’s youth literacy rate is 98 percent; India’s only 73 percent. According to UNICEF, only one in six rural schools in India has a toilet. This is a simple but powerful obstacle to girls’ education.
India has recently shown it can deliver healthcare equal to the highest quality in the world, at a fraction of what that costs in the West. Premier hospitals such as the Escorts or the Apollo chain are attracting an international clientele. Yet, access to basic healthcare for most Indians remains woefully inadequate. Infant mortality in India is unacceptably high: 34.6 deaths per thousand compared to 6.4 in the United States or 2.8 in Sweden. In fact, India’s spending on primary education and public health is among the lowest in the world.
Against this backdrop, India is facing a significant HIV/AIDS epidemic. Between 2.9 and 3.2 million Indians are infected with the disease. Economists have projected the potential loss to India’s annual rate of growth at up to one full percentage point if the epidemic is not contained. Wives and children of infected men often face terrible social ostracism, especially if they are found to be HIV-positive.
Fortunately, the most recent research indicates that the epidemic of HIV/AIDS in India remains largely concentrated among high-risk groups: sex workers and truck drivers among them. This, coupled with the National Rural Health Mission, means there is still a chance of intervening effectively to prevent the spread of this terrible disease into the general population. And effective strategies to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS can be leveraged to align India’s health delivery systems to provide the basic services so many of India’s people need.
Many of the dreams and hopes kindled in India’s youth by this extraordinary moment will be tragically dashed unless solutions are found to the country’s pressing problems, including the threat of HIV/AIDS.
The American India Foundation (AIF) is dedicated to accelerating social
and economic change in India; to contribute to building an India where all people can gain access to education, health care, and livelihood opportunities and where all Indians can realize their full potential; to build a trusted bridge between the dreams and aspirations of individuals who care about India and their realization.
AIF is a trusted bridge for Americans to channel philanthropy towards
accelerating social and economic change in India. Since its inception in
2001, AIF has raised over $45 million and awarded grants to over 90
high-quality Indian NGOs who are working on primary education, women’s
livelihoods and HIV/AIDS.AIF’s goals include accelerating prevention education, and preventing mother to child transmission of HIV. This is an impressive achievement. But the need remains great.
We at AIF invite you to join us in helping forge bridges between Americans and India. We invite you to become part of the vital linkages that connect India’s pressing needs with the resources of Americans who recognize that we must seize this incredible moment for India to, finally, eliminate the obstacles too many Indians still face toward realizing their full human potential and to contributing to the full promise of the world’s largest democracy.
That is why we are creating a Board of Advocates to combat HIV/AIDS in India. The Board of Adocates will be composed of Indian American leaders in entertainment, business, philanthropy and health care who understand the kind of effort that is required to address this terrible scourge in India. Over the course of the next few months, AIF will be rolling out a series of interviews with our Board of Advocates. These exceptional individuals will share their reasons for getting involved, their vision of a fully resurgent India, and their plea for Americans – including Indian Americans – to join them and AIF in building a bridge that can carry all of India’s people to a brighter future.
