Ethiopia: U.S. Earmarks $ 250 Million for HIV/Aids Fight

By, The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa), November 7, 2006

The United States government will donate a sum of 250 million USD (nearly 2 billion ETB) to help combat HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, its Charge d'Affairs announced on Monday.

The announcement was made at the opening of a two-day national symposium that discussed successes and challenges so far in use and management of Anti-Retroviral Treatment (ART) in Ethiopia.

"This year we will give another $ 250-around 2 billion Birr- million for the ongoing efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, country challenged by the epidemic," Ambassador Vikki Huddleston the US Charge d'Affaires said adding that it was only together, that we can challenge this problem." Only together, we can challenge this problem," The Ambassador said the country was one of the 15 beneficiary countries in the world, which is receiving "huge" amount of money from The US President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the PEPAR" She indicated that during the past three years Ethiopia received $ 250 million from the fund earmarked for the preventive works of HIV/AIDS.

The ambassador also reassured the US government's continued support to Ethiopia in the nation wide fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS in the future.

Ethiopia, the second largest populous country in the Sub-Sahara (with an estimated 75 million people) has since the past two years, been on the beneficiaries' list of the US fund-a five-year, $15 billion initiative to "turn the tide" in combating the global HIV/AIDS pandemic.

Dr.Tedros Adhanom, Minster of Health on his part said of ART's contribution in mitigating effects of the pandemic in the country and the ongoing efforts to reach the needy.

"ART has played a big role on the ongoing efforts to fight HIV/AIDS in our country. One year ago, when we start to give free ART, the number of people who were getting the treatment was only 900 while another 11,000 got the treatment with payment. Now we are able to increase the number to 55,900.But that is far from enough, and we have to do more to reach those in need of the treatment," the minister said.

According to Tewodros, the number of people who are in need of ART in the country is estimated to be about 270,000 and there is a plan to give the treatment to 100,000 people till the end of 2006.

Currently, the ART is being given in 189 health facilities and 77 health centers throughout the country.

Around 43,000 out of the 270,000 people who are in need of ART are said to be children.

Dr. Tewodros said there is a plan to deliver the treatment to 263, 000 people by 2008.

The national symposium was organized by Walta Information Center (WIC), Center for Disease Control (CDC) and Johns Hopkins University.

Representatives of federal and regional government as well as NGOs working on the fight against HIV/AIDS are attending the two-day conference which will wind up today. Around 1.3 million people are estimated to live with HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia.


Source: http://allafrica.com/stories/200611070964.html

SOUTHERN AFRICA: Red Cross launches biggest ever AIDS appeal

By, IRIN PlusNews, November 1, 2006

JOHANNESBURG - The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies launched an appeal on Wednesday to massively expand its anti-AIDS programme in Southern Africa over the next five years.

Speaking in Johannesburg, the Federation's new Special Representative for HIV and AIDS, Dr. Mukesh Kapila, urged international donor communities to move beyond rhetoric in meeting the needs of affected populations. The Federation is appealing for US$300 million to implement the expansion of its AIDS programme in the region.

With just a fraction of more than 12 million HIV-positive people in southern Africa currently accessing prevention, care and treatment services, the time for idly standing by and watching the pandemic exact its deadly toll, was over, said Kapila.

"We might have the human resources to quadruple our current programmes to reach 50 million people with prevention messages; over 460,000 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) with support; and 250,000 infected people with home-based care, but our plan can only materialise if our appeal is met," he told IRIN/PlusNews.

The Red Cross estimates that 1 million people a year die of AIDS-related illnesses in the region, and that the number of OVCs is 4.6 million and climbing.

In preparation for its long-term plan, the Federation recently joined forces with key partners to compile and distribute easy-to-use training tool-kits for community-based volunteers struggling to provide services.

Françoise Le Goff, head of the regional delegation based in Harare, Zimbabwe, described this initiative as just one example of what the Federation could achieve with sufficient support over the next five years.

"Expansion of our efforts comes at a time when most governments [in the region] are yet to define targets for their own anti-AIDS campaigns, even more than 25 years into the pandemic," she said.

The new programme would include a focus on reducing stigma and discrimination and tackling gender-based violence.

"Today is a historic moment for our organization, being the first time ever that we are committing so many resources to tackling the long term development problem that is AIDS," Goff noted.

Echoing Le Goff's sentiments, Mandisa Kalako-Williams, president of the South Africa Red Cross Society, said that for too long scores of HIV-positive people in the country have been falling through the cracks due to inadequate human resources and support.

"This scaling-up of the Federation's activities could help alleviate the bottle-neck created by people desperately seeking care at public health facilities already buckling under the pressure. More importantly, this appeal will help expand these life-prolonging interventions beyond urban centres to the all too often overlooked rural communities," Kalako-Williams commented.

Angola, Malawi, South Africa, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe are among the 10 countries that stand to benefit from the Federation's expanded AIDS programme.

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