Clinton in Tanzania Announces New Program to Train Health Care Workers to Treat HIV/AIDS in Rural Areas

Former President Clinton on Wednesday was scheduled to arrive in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to announce a new program to recruit and train health care workers to treat HIV/AIDS in rural parts of the country, AFP/News24.com reports (AFP/News24.com, 7/20). The Clinton Foundation in partnership with the Tanzanian government will implement the Benjamin William Mkapa National HIV/AIDS Fellows Program, which will train and deploy to rural areas at least 30 medical professionals annually. The fellows will receive training in HIV/AIDS clinical care and treatment, administration and management before working for three years at the district level in remote areas of Tanzania. In particular, fellows will be able to facilitate the delivery of antiretroviral drugs to HIV-positive patients who need them (Clinton Foundation release, 7/19). Clinton is on a weeklong tour of six African nations to promote the work of his foundation in the fight against HIV/AIDS (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/19). On Tuesday, he visited South Africa, where he promoted his foundation's efforts during a birthday tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela, who turned 87 on Monday (Timberg, Washington Post, 7/20). Clinton began his tour in Mozambique and will also visit Kenya and Rwanda (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 7/19).

ABCNews' "World News Tonight" on Tuesday reported on Clinton's visit to a pediatric HIV/AIDS clinic in Lesotho. The segment includes comments from Clinton and Paula Vaz, director of the Pediatric Day Hospital in Lesotho (Roberts, "World News Tonight," ABCNews, 7/19). A related ABCNews story is available online. A video excerpt of the segment is available online in RealPlayer.

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