Zimbabwe to Disburse Fund to People Living with HIV/AIDS

Zimbabwe will disburse $23 million to people living with HIV/AIDS, the official Sunday Mail newspaper reported on Sunday. The funds are raised from a three percent AIDS levy on taxable income and corporate tax that was introduced last year. The funds are currently held in the National AIDS Trust Fund. On Saturday, Minister of Health and Child Welfare Timothy Stamps said the funds would be disbursed as soon as the district AIDS committees submitted satisfactory programs to the National AIDS Council. News of the fund allocation comes after a series of demonstrations wherein protesters accused the government of sitting on the money while people died.

The high incidence of AIDS has had a devastating effect on Zimbabwe, with an estimated 2,000 people dying of the disease each week. A further 1.5 million people are said to be living with the disease and the disease will orphan about 600,000 Zimbabwean children by 2005. The country recently pledged $1 million to the UN global AIDS fund, which will be taken from the country's National AIDS Trust Fund. Uganda and Nigeria were the other African countries that pledged money for the fund at last month's UN special session on AIDS.

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