People
Former US president Bill Clinton in an exclusive interview with CNN’s senior International correspondent Satinder Bindra
Discusses his plans to fight against AIDS in India
through the William J. Clinton Foundation
Interview aired on: Sunday, February 19, 2006 at 17:30hrs (IST)
Former US President, Bill Clinton announced another initiative in New Delhi in his ongoing fight against AIDS. The latest plan is to train more Indian nurses to deal with 5 million HIV positive patients in India. President Clinton has over the years managed to convince pharmaceutical companies to bring down the prices of AIDS fighting drugs. To find out more about his plans, CNN’s senior International correspondent Satinder Bindra met up with him and started by asking him what the world should be most concerned about in the battle against AIDS.
Given below is the full transcript of the interview:
Bill Clinton: Clinton
Satinder Bindra: Bindra
Clinton: The thing that I am most worried about is that there were approximately 5 million new infections last year, and that primarily is because 90 per cent of the people who are infected, don’t know it. That is, when you and others including me, say that there are 43 million people in the world who are HIV positive – truth is we are guessing. So I think that’s the next big frontier here besides finding a vaccine and ultimately a cure.
Bindra: With your foundation, these tests to find out if someone is HIV positive are cheaper, you have also brought down the price of AIDS fighting drugs but does more still need to be done?
Clinton: We know for about fifty cents can give people the test which will tell you in 20 mins if you are HIV positive. We have brought down the medicine very low and we can test and see whether it’s working and we are now working on the second line of drugs. But, its all irrelevant unless we have people in the rural areas, for example, who are trained to do this, so we are doing more and more work to train personnel that’s what we are doing here in India working with nurses in rural areas. Even in India, which has the largest number of doctors anywhere including in rural areas, there are still numerous areas without doctors, without enough nurses, and paramedical people to do this work.
Bindra: When you first approached these companies Mr. President asking them to reduce the prices of these drugs, how did they look at you, what was their reaction…
Clinton: We knew that the reason these drugs were priced as they were, as I was told, relatively speaking, a low volume, high profit margin business where the buyers were often poor countries where payment was often delayed and sometimes uncertain. So we said that we want you to go to a high volume low profit margin business with prompt and certain payment. We will work out the prompt and certain payment and we’ll get the volumes up. That’s what got the prices down. None of these people are losing money. None of our partners lose money, but, they have a whole different business philosophy now.
Bindra: If you and me were to meet Mr. President a year from now, would 8,000 people still be dying of this disease every day?
Clinton: Probably! but I think that a year from now instead of a million people getting the medication we should have 3 million or more. A year from now, we should have far more people, like the nurses we are talking about here. And that means that the more you have education prevention and testing. I hope a year from now it would have drastically increased by millions, tens of millions the number of people getting tested. It will take a little while once you do all three things. Then that 8,000 a day will go down. Don’t, let anybody tell you that you can’t do it, I saw the death rate in Brazil drop 80 per cent in two years. In my first term, we dropped the death rate in America by 80 per cent.
People
Senior exec Madhu Soman reflects on stepping away from Indian TV news
Sometimes the toughest story in a newsroom is the one about the newsroom itself.
MUMBAI: For Madhu Soman, a media executive whose career spans more than two decades at global news organisations including Reuters and Bloomberg, the decision to step away from India’s television news industry followed conversations with several leading networks.
Soman returned to India in 2022 to take up a senior leadership role in television news.
He transitioned to the business side of the industry in 2014, joining Bloomberg in Hong Kong to lead broadcast sales, news syndication and strategic partnerships across Asia-Pacific. He held the role for nearly eight years before returning to India.
“WION and Zee Business were the reason I chose to return to India after long years with Reuters and Bloomberg, transitioning from telling stories to selling them,” Soman said.
“The landing strip back home was always narrow, but it was one I was happy to take.”
The stint at Zee Media Corporation Ltd., however, proved shorter than expected.
“It didn’t take very long to realise that my runway within Zee (Media) was going to be rather short,” Soman said.
“Let’s just say I was a cultural misfit.”
Even so, he says the experience had its rewards, including exceptional colleagues and a few good friends.
After stepping away from the organisation, Soman was in discussions about potential roles.
“I spent the better part of the last two years in conversations with a few leading networks, long enough to realise the difference between being unemployed and being unemployable.”
Some of the feedback, he says, was unusually candid.
“Two of them informally told me I’m perhaps one of the best media executives in the television news business. But someone like me fronting a television news network would be considered a business risk,” Soman said in conversation with IndianTelevision.com.
For Soman, the implication was clear.
“A news network fronted by someone whose instincts were formed in journalism rooted in independence, accuracy and editorial distance from power was unlikely to find much favour with the powers that be.”
Beyond the personal dimension of his decision, Soman says the experience reflects broader pressures shaping the news industry today.
“Journalism’s job is simple: ask hard questions and hold power accountable. Keep it honest,” he said.
Quoting former Washington Post editor Marty Baron, he added: “We’re not at war with the government. We’re at work.”
“That principle applies to anyone in a position of influence, whether in government, business, sport or entertainment.”
At the same time, he says the industry faces growing pressures.
“Authoritarian regimes that resist scrutiny, along with rapid technological change including AI, are reshaping and often undermining journalism’s traditional business model.”
“There’s also a growing credibility deficit, as the race for eyeballs rewards whoever delivers the news first rather than whoever confirms it best.”
Having worked on both the editorial and commercial sides of the industry, Soman says he is acutely aware of the economic realities media organisations face.
“Running a media organisation today means being a pragmatic P&L owner. The challenge is to keep investing in strong journalism while making the economics work at a time when a growing share of the industry’s revenue is increasingly being captured by technology platforms.”
“If we drop the ball on accuracy and trust, we do a grave disservice to the democracy we’re meant to serve.”
His experience straddling both content and commerce has shaped his view of how the industry must evolve.
“Good journalism and good business strategy are not opposites,” he said.
“The best media businesses are built when editorial integrity, audience trust and sustainable economics reinforce each other.”
“And ultimately, none of it works without strong teams. Leadership in media is as much about building people and institutions as it is about building products.”
Soman is now preparing to return to his hometown of Trivandrum, barely four years after returning to India.
“Delhi NCR has a way of testing your patience, your stamina and occasionally your sanity,” he says. “But it also leaves you with stories that will last a lifetime.”
“So as I pack up and head home to Trivandrum, I do so with no complaints and no regrets.”
“I didn’t sell my soul. Some things, after all, aren’t for sale.”
Soman’s reflections underscore the tensions between editorial independence, commercial realities and political pressures shaping television news today. His experience offers a window into the challenges facing media leaders navigating a rapidly changing industry. For him, the decision marks a moment to step back after decades spent across global newsrooms and media businesses.
