AFRICA: Multi-million dollar boost for Great Lakes HIV/AIDS

JOHANNESBURG, 16 Mar 2005 (PLUSNEWS) - A new World Bank grant of US $20 million will boost the HIV/AIDS efforts of six countries in the Great Lakes region.

The funds, approved on Tuesday, are expected to benefit Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda, where more than six million people are living with HIV/AIDS, and over three million children have been orphaned by the disease.

Through its 'Great Lakes Initiative on HIV/AIDS' project, the Bank will finance prevention, care and treatment programmes for large numbers of refugees, migrants and transport workers, with a strong emphasis on coordinating a regional, cross-border response to tackling the pandemic.

Keith Hansen, manager of the World Bank's Multi-country HIV/AIDS Programme for Africa, said in a statement, "This project will add greatly to the reach and impact of national HIV/AIDS resources and programmes in a region of the world where HIV/AIDS has caused so much human misery and loss."

[ENDS]