|
 |
 | | | | | |||||||||||||||||||||
| | You are in: World: Africa | |||||||||||||||||||||||
 | | Friday, 8 February, 2002, 06:52 GMT Boost for Africa Aids funding  Nelson Mandela wants war to be waged on Aids The World Bank has approved $500m for the second stage of its programme to combat Aids in Africa. This takes to $1bn the amount approved by the bank in the current financial year in interest-free loans for African Aids initiatives. The new money will fund projects more than a dozen sub-Saharan countries. The announcement came hours after Nelson Mandela spoke of the need for South Africa to fight a war against HIV and Aids and confront the issue of mother-to-child transmission. World Bank President James Wolfensohn, who met African leaders a year ago, said intensifying the fight against HIV and Aids was central to the Bank's mission.
The new assistance would "dramatically increase" access to prevention, treatment, care and support programmes", the World Bank said in a statement. Grants are also being made available for projects extending across the borders of several countries, targeting transport routes where HIV transmission risks can be high. The funds announced also include a $30m credit for a pilot scheme in Senegal to use anti-retroviral therapy - an approach which is expected to be used by other countries in the future. The World Bank and the United Nations agency UNAIDS estimate that approximately $3bn is needed every year to fund basic prevention, care and treatment programmes in Africa. Action needed Former South African President Nelson Mandela said on Thursday his country needed to fight a war against HIV and Aids, in remarks that seem to be tacit criticism of his successor.
He was speaking after presenting the 2002 Nelson Mandela Award for Health and Human Rights to doctors who have pioneered the use of anti-retroviral drugs for HIV-positive pregnant women. Mr Mandela said that if the virus were to be stopped, the issue of mother-to-child transmission had to be dealt with head-on. Currently, only about 10% of HIV-positive pregnant women in South Africa have access to the medication which can save their babies from infection.
Aids campaign groups in South Africa blame this on President Thabo Mbeki's controversial handling of the crisis - he has queried the link between HIV and Aids, and dubbed anti-retroviral drugs dangerous. The former leader said the debate over the government's Aids policy was preventing focussed action on fighting the disease. South Africa has the single biggest HIV-positive population in the world, estimated at five million or 11% of its population. | |
See also:  Internet links: The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites Top Africa stories now:  Links to more Africa stories are at the foot of the page. | |||||||||||||||||||||
|
Links to more Africa stories |
 | | ^^ Back to top News Front Page | World | UK | UK Politics | Business | Sci/Tech | Health | Education | Entertainment | Talking Point | In Depth | AudioVideo ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- To BBC Sport>> | To BBC Weather>> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMIII|News Sources|Privacy  |
E-mail this story to a friend