The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Announces New HIV/AIDS Grants at World AIDS Conference

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The gifts include:

The CONRAD Program - $25 million
The CONRAD Program's Consortium for Industrial Collaboration in Contraceptive Research (CICCR)
grant will be used to expand and accelerate the development and clinical testing of new non-irritating
microbicides that will protect women against sexually transmitted diseases, including HIV/AIDS. The
Consortium will collaborate with the World Health Organization and Family Health International to
conduct relevant clinical studies.
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation - $15 million
The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation (www.pedaids.org) received a $15 million grant to
improve access to and use of anti-retroviral drugs during labor and immediately after birth to reduce
perinatal transmission of AIDS. Research has shown that proper use of these drugs can reduce mother-tochild transmission by as much as 50 percent. Each year an estimated 600,000 newborns are infected and
some 500,000 children die from AIDS worldwide.
Health Systems Trust of South Africa - $7 million
The loveLife Campaign to combat HIV/AIDS is well recognized program in South Africa to reduce the
incidence of HIV infection among young South Africans. The program combines broad-based awareness
and educational efforts with adolescent reproductive health service development and outreach. The
loveLife program is organized under the direction of the Health Systems Trust of South Africa, a
consortium of family planning and health agencies. In addition, the grant will be matched with a $7 million
gift from the Henry L. Kaiser Family Foundation.
Childreach - $1 million
Childreach (wwyw.childreach.org), the U.S. member of PLAN International, has been awarded a $1 million
grant to support an African initiative to bring medical and educational resources to children living with or
orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The Childreach initiative involves a partnership with CARE, Save the Children
and the World Conference of Religion and Peace, as well as with community-based organizations in the
countries being served.
The Palliative Medical Institute - $455,000
The Palliative Medical Institute promotes palliative medicine as an integral part of medical care in South
Africa. Palliative medicine provides comprehensive care for relief of pain and suffering, especially during
the late stages of a terminal illness. It includes the physical, emotional and psycho-social needs of the
patient and the family. The grant will be used for training and education in palliative care.
The Botswana Comprehensive HIV/AIDS Partnership - $50 million
The Foundation will contribute $50 million to help fund a new partnership between the Republic of
Botswana and Merck & Co. The partnership will endeavor to significantly advance HIV/AIDS prevention,
healthcare access, patient management and treatment of HIV in Botswana, where an estimated 29 percent
of the adult population is HIV-positive. The public-private partnership will also include universities, UN
agencies, as well as other pharmaceutical and non-pharmaceutical companies.
In addition, the Foundation has announced the following AIDS grants over the past 15 months:
United Nations Population Fund - $57 million
With support from the Foundation, UNFPA (wwwxv.unfpa.org) will expand upon existing HIV/AIDS
prevention campaigns targeted at protecting young people in Botswana, Ghana, Tanzania and Uganda. The
five-year initiative will work closely with the governments in each country and with U.S. non-profit
partners PATH (Program for Appropriate Technology in Health) and Pathfinder International.

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