India’s federal government says it will restore funding to the country’s HIV-AIDS program months after it cut its contribution and asked regional governments to fill in the gaps.
Health Minister J.P. Nadda said late Tuesday the government was committed to combatting HIV-AIDS and that the federal government would resume fully funding India’s National AIDS Control Program.
Nadda spoke at an event to mark World AIDS day. Health activists had criticized the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi when it slashed funding for the program in February.
As state governments scrambled to find funds, there were reports of shortages of condoms and anti-retroviral drugs as well as syringes for needle-exchange programs.