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AAPI seeks funds to fight AIDS in India

Aziz Haniffa
India Abroad Correspondent in Washington

The American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, the largest and most influential medical organization in the United States, has launched a concerted campaign to cut itself a slice of the Bush administration's $200 million 'seed money' to an international AIDS fund to fight the growing AIDS crisis in India.

Two months ago, AAPI, tired of waiting for the health authorities in India to take the initiative to address the growing HIV/AIDS pandemic, established a task force to confront the scourge.

Dr Dayanand Naik, president of AAPI, told India Abroad that this was the outcome of the group's special strategy session held during its recent governing body meeting where the focus was the issue of AIDS in India.

Last week, as part of that strategy, AAPI wrote to President George W Bush, applauding his government's initiative to take the lead in the fight against the AIDS pandemic in Africa and Asia by putting its money where its mouth is and contributing $200 million in 'seed money' to a global fund this year to fight the scourge.

In its missive, AAPI said, "We hope that as the mechanisms for this initiative are further developed, a significant portion of the monies will be directed toward disease prevention in India. More specifically, we humbly request that up to $25 per cent of the funds be used to fight the further spread of AIDS in India."

Making a strong case for such a portion of funds to be allocated to India, AAPI pointed out that "outside of Africa, India likely has the world's most worrisome AIDS crisis. Some reports estimate that as many as 10-20 million people are already infected, along with projections that the disease rate may be doubling as rapidly as every three years."

Thus, it noted, "There may well be 100 million Indians infected with AIDS by the year 2010."

While acknowledging that "any strategy to prevent the current trends will have to include education, grassroots awareness, and the changing of many social conditions" and that the Indian government "must play a lead role in this process", AAPI, however, wrote that "it will take the combined efforts of a global community in order to win the battle".

"AAPI, through its representation of almost 36,000 physicians of Indian origin, and approximately 12-15 per cent of all current medical students in the country, has pledged to join the fight," it said.

AAPI informed Bush that "our recently created Special Task Force on AIDS is currently developing a detailed action plan on how we can best play a role in the prevention campaign. We look forward to input from a variety of medical and public health experts, key congressional Representatives, and your administration in this effort."

AAPI said that since its founding in 1982, it has established a "longstanding record of philanthropic activities and firmly believes in giving back to the community. Our members are dedicated to providing high quality medical care and give selflessly of their time to work in underserved areas. Indeed, many of these physicians are the mainstay in country hospitals where they help those most in need."

Meanwhile, it pointed out that "with funds that the AAPI Charitable Foundation has generated, we are able to support 13 charitable clinics back in India. In addition, through our Foundation we have organized efforts to raise millions of dollars in aid for areas hit hardest by natural disasters, including the most recent devastating earthquake in Gujarat."

"Here in the United States," the missive to Bush, with copies to Vice-President Richard Cheney and Scott H Evertz, director of the White House Office of National AIDS Policy, noted, "AAPI chapters in Flint and Taylor, Michigan; Chicago, Illinois; and Dallas and Houston, Texas, conduct free clinics for the needy, with similar clinics under development in several other states. And, with more than 1,500 full-time academicians of Indian origin, AAPI members contribute to the education of medical students and the advancement of healthcare through research."

"A number of our members are also experts in AIDS/HIV and have been internationally recognized for their research in the field," it added.

AAPI said, "These activities demonstrate our sincere commitment to look beyond the cities and states where we live, to a larger world where our help is needed."

It said the AIDS epidemics in India "is one such crisis that must be addressed immediately. Long-term solutions must be found to meet this challenge and we believe it will not be done with the involvement, collaboration and support of countries like the United States."

Consequently, AAPI told Bush that his "proactive leadership on these important health issues is critical. The establishment of a global health fund is essential to better health in the world. We further believe the $200 million proposed should only be the start of continued funding in the future."

The Bush administration, which has been assailed by many developing nations, particularly in Africa, for contributing just a measly $200 million -- considering America's vast wealth -- to the fund, which UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has said needs to amass more than $7 billion, has defended its contribution, saying it is intended to be 'seed money' and more will follow.

Naik told India Abroad that the AAPI intends to work with the Congressional Caucus on India and Indian Americans, particularly its co-chair, Representative Jim McDermott, Washington Democrat, a physician by training, who has visited India as many as 15 times, most of his trips being to research AIDS in the red-light districts of Bombay and Calcutta, to push India's case for 25 per cent of the administration's 'seed money'.

He said working with the AAPI to make this case for administration funds to fight AIDS in India are two of the top Indian American researchers on AIDS worldwide, Ketan Joshi and Ushma Upadhyay -- both with Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, considered one of the best AIDS research centres in the US.

Complementing their efforts will Kathy Kulkarni -- healthcare aide to Rep Frank Pallone, New Jersey Democrat, founder and former co-chair of the India Caucus -- who recently graduated from Johns Hopkins with a master's degree in public health and is considered one of Capitol Hill's rising stars on public health policy.

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