The non-profit wrote a letter to the health ministry
The Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), an autonomous non-profit organization backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is facing difficulties as India banned the foreign funding for PHFI. The organization fears that it may damage many government health programs.
According to Reuters, the non-profit wrote a letter to the health ministry on May 3 and informed them that the organization’s domestic funds could sustain the operation only until June.
The programs including eliminating black fever, HIV prevention, tobacco control and universal health coverage were all in “suspended animation,” the foundation wrote in the letter.
Secretary of the Department of Health Research in the federal health ministry Soumya Swaminathan told the news agency that Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is PHFI’s important partner and that they have many important projects on the ground with states.
The health secretary has written a letter to the prime minister’s office, giving details about PHFI’s projects, she informed.
PHFI was created as a public-private initiative and launched by then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in 2006. The organization was created with the aim to enhance the capacity of public health professionals in the country.
The Union Ministry canceled PHFI’s registration under the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act on April alleging law violations and barred the organization from receiving foreign funds.
The ban came after RSS-backed Swadeshi Jagran Manch’s allegation of a nexus between the Gate Foundation and big pharma and its health policy making influences.
The Gate Foundation, funded by Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, contributed roughly $30 million to PHFI in 2015-16, Reuters reported.