TANZANIA: World Bank approves US $70 million HIV/AIDS grant
DAR ES SALAAM, 28 August (PLUSNEWS) - The World Bank approved on Wednesday a US $70-million grant for Tanzania's multisectoral HIV/AIDS project, which is aimed at reducing the spread of the disease through working with government, non-government, civil society and community organisations.
The money is intended to support the country’s National Programme for HIV/AIDS and will sustain activities "in the priority areas of prevention and the mitigation of the health and the socioeconomic impact of HIV/AIDS at individual, household and community levels", the Bank reported.
The sectors targeted for the project are social mobilisation and community level response; public sector programmes in prevention, care and support; support for the Tanzanian Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS); and the implementation of similar programmes on Zanzibar.
"This is not the first large World Bank donation to Tanzania, but because of its purpose, I think this is very timely," Judy O'Connor, the Bank's country director for Tanzania and Uganda, said on Wednesday.
The exact details of the spending programme have not been finalised, but O'Conner said the government and TACAIDS could challenge the stigma associated with the disease "and provide support to the families of the victims by treating the disease as any other in the country".
Some of the money will be used to buy generic antiretroviral drugs, the chairman of TACAIDS, Herman Lupogo, told reporters on Wednesday.
Health officials have said that just over 1,500 people countrywide are on antiretroviral drugs, with most of these being treated privately. Accurate figures on HIV/AIDS in Tanzania are scarce, but it is generally accepted that roughly 12 percent of the population of 35 million people are HIV positive.
"There is a lack of statistics here in Tanzania, but that is because we are afraid of being tested," Lupogo said. "But this money gives us hope and, hopefully more people will come forward and get tested."
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