South Africa Boosts Funds to Combat HIV/AIDS -- HIV/AIDS INFO AND UPDATES

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

[ Login ] [ Contact Forum Admin ] [ Main index ] [ Post a new message ] [ Search | Check update time | Archives: 1 ]

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]

Date Posted: 22:00:50 02/28/02 Thu
Author: Anonymous
Subject: South Africa Boosts Funds to Combat HIV/AIDS

South Africa Boosts Funds to Combat HIV/AIDS

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (Reuters) Feb 20 - South Africa's finance minister Trevor Manuel announced a three-fold increase in the country's allocation to HIV/AIDS prevention on Wednesday.

"This includes a progressive roll-out of the programme to prevent mother-to-child transmission," Manuel said. Other expenditures would include spending on projects such as educational programmes, counselling, and home-care services. The budget for HIV/AIDS prevention would continue to increase over the next 3 years, he added.

Underscoring the impact of AIDS on the country, an expenditure document accompanying the budget stated: "HIV/AIDS remains the most serious challenge facing the country and the health services."

Manuel's spending plans came as President Thado Mbeki's ruling African National Congress (ANC) remained split over nevirapine's use. The government has thus far refused to sanction use of the drug, which has been shown to reduce vertical HIV transmission, outside of 18 pilot sites.

On Tuesday, Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang tried to overrule provincial premier Mbhazima Shilowa's extension of the nevirapine programme to all hospitals in the area around Johannesburg and Pretoria. A decision on using the drug in these areas is on hold until Shilowa and the health minister resolve their differences.

AIDS activists welcomed Manuel's spending plans but emphasized that more was needed to combat the epidemic.

"This is a bold step forward by the Department of Finance, but it is still not enough to resolve the problem or even to begin to address the real problem of premature deaths due to a lack of access to treatment for people living with HIV," the AIDS Consortium said in a statement.

Reuters Health Information 2002. � 2002 Reuters Ltd
Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.

[ Next Thread | Previous Thread | Next Message | Previous Message ]