NAMIBIA: ARV rollout on target

Namibia's Minister of Health and Social Services, Dr Richard Kamwi, says the target of providing life-prolonging antiretroviral (ARV) therapy to 30,000 HIV positive patients before a 2008 deadline is on course and would be met by early 2007.

It is thought that 52,000 people are in need of ARVs, but the estimated 230,000 HIV-positive Namibians were all potential candidates for treatment, according to the state-owned New Era newspaper.

"These success stories are partly as a result of our development partners," Kamwi said on Saturday after his return from Toronto, Canada, where he had attended the 16th International conference on AIDS. "As a government, we must be mindful of the fact that it is not our money - it is foreign funds."

He added that in order to sustain progress, the country would have to start putting more funds towards HIV/AIDS programmes, which were funded mainly by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria and the US President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Relief.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews,

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