Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Fiji India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka The Subcontinental AIDS Series Starting in Winter 2004 The Subcontinental began quarterly coverage of the AIDS crisis. Here you will find information and resources that will help you get involved with efforts to combat the spread of AIDS. Articles: Winter 2004 AIDS in India Priya Bery Priya Bery, Director of Policy & Research at the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, explains the AIDS epidemic's effects in India. Further she provides suggestions regarding what Americans can do to help combat the danger.     Spring 2004 Of Patents and Patients: Giving AIDS Patients the Right to Treatment Shaffiq Essajee As the AIDS epidemic continues to grow, Indian drug companies have taken on Western pharma-leaders to help provide cheap generic HIV cocktails to the world's poor. Dr. Essajee parlays his personal experience as a physician in Kenya.     Summer 2004 Mutual Respect: Re-examining Puppetry in India Anna Sobel U.S. Fulbright Scholar Anna Sobel calls for a preservation of traditional Indian puppetry. Additionally, she promotes puppetry as a method of promoting public education on important issues such as AIDS and hygene.     April 15th, 2004 AIDS in India The Economist Indians start voting next week to choose a new government. Its first priority should be AIDS. Resources: South Asians Against AIDS (SAAAIDS), is a non-profit with a mission to empower women and children to combat AIDS. The South Asian Public Health Association (SAPHA) recently published a white paper on health issues that should be of concern to South Asian Americans. They included a chapter on AIDS amongst this community. USAID implements HIV/AIDS programs in nearly 100 countries, including the South Asian nations of Bangladesh, Burma, India, and Nepal. Fifty of these are through a direct in-country presence and the remainder are covered by eight regional programs. Specific interventions depend on the nature of the epidemic in a particular country, but generally include multifaceted prevention and care components. The World Bank runs a website on their activities to combat AIDS in South Asia. To date the World Bank has provided $374 million (US) for support for HIV/AIDS prevention programs in South Asia. The Gates Foundation, though its Avahan: India AIDS Initiative has contributed more than $100 million (US) to help combat AIDS in India. In 1997, the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS (GBC) was founded with the realization the very existence of AIDS is bad for business. Since their founding, they have been working to help the business community coordinate efforts to combat the global AIDS pandemic. Richard Holbrooke, former US Ambassador to the United Nations, became President and CEO in 2001.