World Bank Gives US$60 Million Loan to Help Ukraine Fight Tuberculosis, AIDS

The World Bank signed a credit agreement with Ukraine on a $60 million loan to help the former Soviet republic combat the rapid spread of TB and AIDS, officials said Wednesday. Luca Barbone, World Bank regional director for Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova, and Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, Kostiantyn Hryshcenko, signed the agreement Tuesday in Washington. The money will help the cash-strapped Ukrainian government apply a comprehensive prevention, diagnosis and epidemic control program to fight TB and AIDS. Ukraine will earmark $21.9 million of its own for the program, said Ukrainian Health Ministry spokesperson Uliana Lozan. About 670,000 Ukrainians are now infected with TB, health officials say, and the death rate from TB has nearly tripled over the last decade. Officials have registered about 50,000 HIV cases in the country, and international AIDS experts have warned that figure could rise above 1.4 million by 2010 if no effective measures are taken.

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