DJIBOUTI: Global Fund millions bring more AIDS drugs

People living with HIV/AIDS in Djibouti could soon have wider access to anti-AIDS drugs as a result of a Global AIDS Fund allocation of US $12 million.

Omar Ali Ismael, the head of Djibouti's inter-sectoral technical committee on HIV/AIDS, said the new funding would help to increase the number of HIV-positive people on treatment from the current 200 up to 4,000.

"Everybody in Djibouti, including refugees and legal immigrants who need treatment, will be able to receive them free of charge up until 2007," Ismael told the UN news service, PlusNews.

The government will also use the money to improve HIV/AIDS treatment and care, target vulnerable groups through prevention, promote civil society involvement, and step up data gathering and surveillance.

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

[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]