The Asian Development Bank (ADB) will help carry out a project in north-eastern India to counter the spread of HIV/AIDS in areas earmarked for major road projects.

According to studies, new and upgraded roads can be a conduit for the spread of sexually transmitted infections.

The $1.47m grant will be used to develop a project baseline and monitoring and evaluation system to provide information on the interaction between HIV transmission, road construction and high-risk behaviour.

The project will deliver training and skills transfer programmes for health service providers and condom distributors.

The grant, financed by the Government of Sweden and administered by ADB, will be provided between February 2010 until 2013 to the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Manipur and Nagaland where HIV prevalence is among the highest in the country.