U.S. Ambassador Robert D. Blackwill Visits Chennai And Speaks On HIV/AIDS

November 6, 2002

Chennai, November 6 - Mr. Robert D. Blackwill, the U.S. Ambassador to India, visited Chennai on Wednesday, November 6 to address the US-India effort to combat HIV/AIDS.

Ambassador Blackwill began his visit with a tour of the Government Hospital of Thoracic Medicine (GHTM), Tambaram. GHTM is the site of a US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Global AIDS Project (GAP) program to develop a TB/HIV Information System through a public/private partnership with Satyam Computer Services, Ltd.; to renovate the hospital's laboratory; to procure new laboratory equipment for diagnostic and treatment services; and to provide ongoing training and technical assistance. At the hospital, he met with Dr. C. Ravindranath, Director of Medical Education, Mr. K. Deenabandhu of the Tamil Nadu AIDS Control Society, Dr. P. Paramesh, Superintendent of GHTM, Dr. S. Rajasekaran, Deputy Superintendent, GHTM, and visited HIV/AIDS patients.

Ambassador Blackwill then called upon the Honorable Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Jayalalithaa, at Fort Saint George. They discussed the commitments of the governments of Tamil Nadu and of the United States to combat HIV/AIDS. The US has allocated $120 million over the next five years to fight HIV/AIDS in India through the efforts of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Approximately $35 million of these funds are dedicated to combating HIV/AIDS in Tamil Nadu. The Ambassador presented the Chief Minister with a blueprint of the upgrades planned for the GHTM as part of the collaboration and support of the CDC GAP.

During a luncheon co-hosted by Family Health International, an NGO working on HIV/AIDS prevention programs in India, and the Indian Network for People Living with HIV/AIDS (INP+), the Ambassador delivered a speech entitled: India, the United States and the Fight Against HIV AIDS. The Ambassador stressed that the US was a partner with India in eradicating HIV/AIDS. He noted that the United States and India are battling HIV/AIDS together, sharing ideas, best practices and resources. America and India both have tragic HIV/AIDS problems and look forward to working together on this vital issue. He noted that the bilateral cooperation against HIV/AIDS is another important example of the transformation of the US/India relationship.