Zambia Gets $42 Million to Fight AIDS

A Zambian official said Monday the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved $42 million to combat AIDS in the country. The money will be released as soon as the nation provides a plan for how it will spend it. "We have met all criteria required for the funds to be released, but we have not worked out a reporting and accounting system... that is what we are doing now," said Victor Mukonka, spokesperson for the Central Board of Health. The funds are part of $93 million allocated to Zambia to help battle HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis over the next three years. Government data from July 2002 show that 37 percent of annual deaths in Zambia were blamed on malaria, while 40,000 new TB cases are recorded annually. Mukonka said the money would go toward buying antiretroviral drugs for free distribution in government hospitals, for awareness campaigns, and to support AIDS orphans. A pilot antiretroviral distribution project, started in Lusaka and the Copperbelt regions, is expected to expand to the rest of the country.

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