Friday, Nov 15, 2002
Friday, Nov 15, 2002 |
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Andhra Pradesh
By Dasu Kesava Rao
Mr. Gates flew to Shadnagar town in backward Mahbubnagar district, 50 km away, on Thursday to launch Phase II of Partnership Programme to introduce Hepatitis B vaccine to 20 million children and strengthen immunisation services in 6 districts, symbolically by administering polio drops to a new-born. The Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, was on hand. As the assembled villagers watched curiously, some from treetops, Mr. Gates, in casual wear and sports shoes, and Mr. Naidu walked a few hundred yards from the road to the rural hospital, venue of the function. The software wizard handed good news to people, the Chief Minister in particular, when he said the Gates Foundation would continue to support the programme beyond the stipulated 5-year period. He also attended a Round Table convened by Mr. Naidu earlier at the Jubilee Hall here to check out how the first phase was implemented and identify constraints. Senior State officials, including Collectors of 6 districts where the programme is on, representatives of the Gates Foundation and pharmaceutical industry and newspaper editors — N. Ravi (The Hindu), Dilip Padgaonkar (The Times of India) and Ramoji Rao (Eenadu) — were among the select 27 invitees. The day clearly belonged to the Microsoft architect who also spent considerable time at the MICD (Microsoft India Development Centre) and the Satyam Technology centre before rounding off his 24-hour visit with an address on e-governance to Mr. Naidu, his colleagues, legislators and senior bureaucrats. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, who set aside protocol to personally receive Mr. Gates last night, had a one-on-one meeting with him at the Jubilee Hall where they discussed "our shared goal of improving children's health and the urgent need to face the HIV/AIDS scourge." At a brief interaction with the media, Mr. Gates took in his stride a rather blunt question whether the whole exercise (funding of the health programmes and other charities) was not to regain the image lost in the `anti-trust' case? The answer, he said, was `no.' He and wife, Melinda, personally funded the Foundation activities. It was completely independent of Microsoft. He had a commitment to `give it back to society' as early as 10 years ago. Mr. Gates was very happy that the first phase of the Partnership Programme was `excellent.' Hundreds and thousands of children benefited from it. On the burgeoning spread of HIV/AIDS, he said the `key thing' was to educate and motivate people to change their `behaviour' and not run the risk. "We (he and Mr. Naidu) have a personal commitment to tackle the problem,'' he said. Even if things went right, he felt, it would be another 10 years before a vaccine to cure AIDS arrived. He was anxious that the benefits of vaccine, hitherto enjoyed by the affluent world, should reach children in the developing world as well. The Chief Minister referred to his goal of bringing the infant mortality rate from 65 per 1000 livebirths to 15/1000 by 2020 and the steps being taken to achieve this. Thanking Mr. Gates and his Foundation for their support, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu assured him that the programme would continue to receive his `personal attention.'
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