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AIF Names New Board Members & Trustees

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Kavya Rajan
kavya@aifoundation.org / (646) 530-8964

New York (AIF), July 14, 2006 – The American India Foundation (AIF) is pleased to announce a briefing by Dr. Suniti Solomon on ‘Frontline Perspectives from India: Progress and Challenges in Combating the HIV/AIDS Virus’ on Thursday July 20, 2006 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at 845 Third Avenue, New York NY 10028.

Dr. Suniti Solomon is founder of YRG Care and one of India’s most prominent HIV/AIDS activists working to provide treatment and care for marginalized groups in India.

Rema Nanda, Director of AIF’s HIV/AIDS Program, says, “Providing the public with opportunities to interact directly with those on the frontlines of combating AIDS in India is an important part of AIF’s campaign to educate people and mobilize resources for preventing the current 5.7 million HIV-infected Indians from spiraling out of control.”
In 2006 India surpassed South Africa as the country with the largest number of HIV/AIDS infections. Dr. Solomon points out, “If we ever reach a prevalence rate of ten or twelve percent there will be total chaos! You can imagine, we have one billion people in India and so even the slightest increase in prevalence means a significant increase in infections.”
In 1986 Dr. Solomon and her colleagues documented the first evidence of HIV infection in India. Deeply concerned with the rapid rise in infections, she founded YRG CARE in 1993 to provide urgently needed HIV/AIDS treatment and care services. Today, YRG Care provides health care for over 4,500 persons living with HIV and voluntary counseling and testing services to over 15,000 clients. YRG Care is also a premier medical and behavioral research center.

Dr. Solomon is a member of the National Technical Team on Women and AIDS, an advisory board member of the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, a permanent member on the Microbicides Committee of the Indian Council of Medical Research and a member of India's Country Coordinating Mechanism for the Global Fund on AIDS, TB and Malaria.

Press Contacts:

Kavya Rajan (New York)
Director of Communications
kavya@aifoundation.org / (646) 530-8964

American India Foundation
845 Third Avenue, 4th Floor
New York, NY 10022

About AIF
The American India Foundation (AIF) is a non-profit foundation charged with the mission of accelerating social and economic change in India. AIF mobilizes people and resources across the United States for its three pillars of development work in India: Education, Livelihood and Public Health. Since its inception in 2001 AIF has invested $27 million in India through its grants to partner NGOs and through its three programs: (1) Service Corps Fellowship, developing young American leaders by placing them with Indian NGOs; (2) Digital Equalizer, bridging the “digital divide” by providing computers, Internet, and training to under-resourced schools; and (3) League of Artisans, creating sustainable livelihoods for artisan groups. AIF was formed under the leadership of President Bill Clinton, who continues to serve as Honorary Chair. AIF has main offices in New York and Silicon Valley in the U.S. and New Delhi and Bangalore in India.