June 11, 2012 | by Bill Gates

Why India?

I’ll soon be posting a full video about my recent trip to India. But first, a preview video and some thoughts about why I went. I go to India at least once a year to see the progress of the work our foundation is doing there. India is a fascinating, dynamic country, and I always learn so much from the people I meet.

We’ve been working in India for a long time, investing more than $1 billion in programs to fight disease and poverty. Originally we were focused mostly on preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. That effort has become a great model for how to really scale up HIV/AIDS prevention, and it’s now transitioning to government sponsorship. This year’s trip was a chance for me to thank and congratulate everyone involved in the transition and in India’s progress against HIV/AIDS.

The trip also was a chance to celebrate the fact that India has now gone more than a year without recording a new case of polio. I also wanted to learn more about India’s progress as a developer and manufacturer of vaccines and other medicines that can help improve public health throughout the developing world.

Those are just some of the reasons why I went to India. The video on this page explains more, and I’ll share a lot more in the video that will be posted later this week.

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