RWANDA: Kigali gets US $2.8 million for HIV/AIDS control

The African Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US $2.8 million grant to finance Rwanda's national HIV/AIDS control plan, the bank reported on Tuesday.

The grant is expected to enhance the country's institutional capacities to coordinate and implement its 2002-2006 multisectoral plan, comprising the National HIV/ADS Control Commission, national sectoral committees, NGOs, community associations and religious organisations, the bank reported from its headquarters in Tunis, Tunisia.

It is expected to boost the government's efforts to improve the health of its people and to slow down the spread of HIV/AIDS. The bank said the grant would be used for technical aid, training, impact studies, provision of equipment and logistics.

The bank quoted data published in a recent world report on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS, June 2002), which indicated that at least 500,00 Rwandans live with HIV/AIDS, 430,000 of them aged between 15 and 49. Of the total figure, 250,00 are women.

The National Multisectoral HIV/AIDS Control Plan organises the fight according to a multisectoral, decentralised, multidisciplinary and community approach.

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