ETHIOPIA: Economy affected by AIDS pandemic - government

Ethiopia's HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Office (HAPCO) has expressed concern over the "alarming growth" of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Head of the HAPCO advocacy and coordination department, Teklu Belay, said increases in worker absenteeism caused by the disease were having a negative impact on the country's economy.

Belay was quoted by Reuters as saying: "Studies indicate that due to HIV/AIDS infections, employees in the country's workplaces were absenting themselves between 30 to 240 days annually."

HAPCO did not provide statistics on HIV/AIDS prevalence or mortality rates, but estimated that approximately 1,000 people in Ethiopia were contracting HIV each day.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews, Economy,

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