COTE D'IVOIRE: Civil strife an obstacle to AIDS treatment - Govt

JOHANNESBURG, 4 October 2005 (PlusNews) - Ongoing conflict and a lack of funds are hampering efforts to roll out anti-AIDS treatment to HIV-positive people in parts of the Ivory Coast, government officials have said.

According to Health Minister Albert Mabri Toikeusse, since rebels seized control of the northern half of the country in September 2002, most of the health and social infrastructure there had been destroyed.

Agence France-Presse quoted him as saying, "The crisis has affected the fight against AIDS. Since the rebellion three years ago split the country into two rival zones, most foreign donors have suspended or halted funding."

Toikeusse noted that an estimated seven percent of adult Ivorians aged between 15 and 49 were living with the HI virus.