New Delhi, July 24 (IANS) Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, who met Bill Gates here, Friday praised him and his foundation for helping India curb the spread of AIDS.
According to a health ministry statement, Azad appreciated the work being done by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for its continued support to the National AIDS Control Programme through their initiative called “AVAHAN” and supporting the national polio immunisation programme.

Gates also met senior health ministry bureaucrats and discussed their shared commitment to promote various health activities in India.

Azad reiterated the government’s commitment to meet the millennium development goals related to child and maternal mortality, an area of concern for India.

According to health ministry statistics, 57 children of every 1,000 live births are dying before reaching the age of five. Similarly, 254 women out of every 100,000 live births are losing their battle against life during pregnancy and child delivery.

Azad also appraised Gates and his associates about the universal immunisation programme - the road map for introduction of new vaccines to cover more preventable diseases. In this context, he also appreciated the efforts being made by the Gates Foundation to discover and develop new vaccines.

The minister also appealed to Gates for his continued support to the health programmes in India, the ministry statement said. The statement also said that Gates congratulated India for its leadership on AIDS prevention, which he said can be a model for the rest of the world.