INDIA
• U.S.-India
Fund
For over
three decades, the United States and India have had a robust
cooperative relationship in science and technology. In large
part, this relationship has been guided by the respective
governments and fueled by the U.S.-India Fund and its predecessor,
the P.L.-480 program. Under the auspices of the P.L.-480 program,
the United States Government used U.S.-owned Indian rupees
to support scientific, technological, educational, and cultural
activities involving the two countries. These rupees were
the result of payments made to the U.S. by the Indian Government
in the 1950s and 1960s for grain sales. In 1986, the remaining
rupees were rolled into one single fund, the U.S.-India Fund
(USIF), and allocated to individual technical agencies on
an annual basis. The administration of this fund was the responsibility
of the Department of State and the Science Office in the U.S.
Embassy in New Delhi. The USIF provided the framework and
the funds for a mutually beneficial Science and Technology
(S&T) relationship over the last ten years. Hundreds of
S&T projects were initiated with funds from the USIF involving
American and Indian scientists in all fields of science and
technology. Since 1987, the NIH has administered over 35 research
projects and workshops in a wide variety of biomedical research
topics, including oral cancer, blindness prevention, nuclear
magnetic resonance, infectious diseases, and contraceptive
development. The USIF Program had its last year of competition
in 1996 and the scheduled end of this program is January 1998,
when all rupees will have been disbursed.
• Indo-U.S.
Vaccine Action Program (VAP)
Begun
in 1987, the Indo-U.S. Vaccine Action Program (VAP) was designed
to accommodate a broad spectrum of activities relating to
immunization. Under the VAP, U.S. and Indian scientists carry
out collaborative research projects directed toward the development
and implementation of new vaccines and diagnostics. In addition
to conducting research, the VAP has held a series of workshops
on a number of important topics. Money to support the VAP
has come from three primary sources: the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID); the Indian
Department of Biotechnology; and the Public
Health Service of the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. The U.S. VAP
Secretariat is located within the Division of Microbiology
and Infectious Diseases of the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).
• Indo-U.S.
Collaboration on Prevention of Sexually Transmitted Diseases
and HIV/AIDS
Approximately
33.6 million are living with HIV infection or AIDS and more
than 16,000 people become infected each day. Asia is predicted
to have the most serious epidemic unfolding in the next few
years. Given these statistics, there is need for continued
progress toward the prevention and control of the spread of
HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) through
improved surveillance, prevention research, vaccine research
and development, technology transfer, and health sciences
research.
The
Joint Statement between the Indian Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare (MOHFW) and the U.S. Department of Health &
Human Services (DHHS) is intended to initiate a range of
HIV/AIDS and STD prevention research efforts, including
behavioral prevention strategies and epidemiological and
operational research on HIV/AIDS and STDs, including
surveillance, STD treatment, and reproductive health.
Collaborating institutions include the National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the National
Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD),
the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and the Fogarty
International Center (FIC). On the Indian side, the
collaborating agencies include the Indian
Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the National
AIDS Control Organisation (NACO). Collaboration under the Joint Statement will be coordinated
with Indo-U.S. efforts pursued under earlier Joint Statements
on "Contraceptive and Reproductive Health Research"
and the "Vaccine Action Programme".
As one
of the first activities, the National Institute of Mental
Health (NIMH), the Indian National AIDS Control Organisation (NACO),
and the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will develop new
and culturally appropriate behavioral intervention strategies,
methods, and measures that will be mutually beneficial. Some
of the program areas where cooperation on research to develop
and test effective HIV/AIDS and STD behavioral prevention
programs include but are not limited to HIV/AIDS prevention
programs, basic behavioral and social research, and assessment
of HIV associated neuro-behavioral consequences. This
collaboration is expected to include training, collaborative
research projects, expert consultations, and laboratory
strengthening.
Executive
Summary from the U.S.-Indo Conference on HIV/AIDS Prevention
Research held in Chennai, India January 11-12, 2000
• Indo-US
Collaboration on Maternal and Child Health and Human
Development Research
Although
the health of women, children and adolescents has improved
significantly in both countries, it is recognized that
important research questions remain to help achieve additional
reductions in morbidity and mortality. Building on a
thirty-year history of maternal and child health research
cooperation, India and the United States now agree to enhance
this cooperation through an expanded program of Maternal and
Child Health and Human Development Research.
Over
forty-five percent of females in India today are in the
reproductive age group and the population of India is expected
to continue increasing during the next several decades, as is
the number of children and adolescents within the population.
In the United States, there are also ongoing concerns about
further improving the health of women of childbearing age,
children and adolescents.
Many of
the above mentioned problems are common to both the countries
and hence collaborative research in these areas will be of
benefit to people of both countries.
Building
on a history of productive biomedical and behavioral research
collaboration, this cooperation will be based on mutual
benefit, trust, and a shared commitment to the advancement of
scientific knowledge and its application to improve health.
Specific
areas to be addressed within this program include but are not
limited to prevention and treatment of leading causes of
maternal, neonatal and pediatric morbidity and mortality,
maternal and child nutrition and the role of micronutrients in
healthy child bearing, and reproductive health including
socio-behavioral aspects, birth practices, and development and
evaluation of newer contraceptives.
PAKISTAN
As with
India, research cooperation between the United States and
Pakistan has been supported in part by the P.L.-480 program.
While the program has largely ended, there are a few outstanding
projects. These include collaboration between the National
Cancer Institute (NCI) and the Armed Forces Institute
of Pathology in Rawalpindi, the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and the National
Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in Karachi, and the National
Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
with the Aga
Khan University.
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