BURKINA FASO: Local fundraising planned for AIDS treatment

JOHANNESBURG, 9 November 2004 (PlusNews) - An AIDS NGO in Burkina Faso is shifting to local fundraising, as external funding seems to focus more on prevention programmes than long-term anti-AIDS treatment.

Although an estimated 43,000 people are in need of treatment, through pledges by the Global AIDS Fund, only 2,000 currently have access to antiretrovirals.

"The Global Fund takes care of 3,500 people over a period of four years, but what will become of them at the end of the period?" asked Mamadou Sawadogo, chairman of the Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (REGIPIV), during an interview with the UN news service, PlusNews.

The fund raising campaign is expected to be launched by March 2005 and will appeal for local contributions through sports or cultural events.