Italian Government Provides Grants to Uganda and Kenya To Assist With HIV/AIDS Programs
Italy will give Uganda $18.5 million over the next three years to bolster its HIV/AIDS programs, anti-poverty efforts and health and agriculture initiatives, Agence France-Presse reports. Ugandan Finance Minister Gerald Ssendaula said that while HIV/AIDS cases in Uganda are declining, the country is still struggling to finance the cost of treatment and other programs for people living with the virus (Agence France-Presse, 10/17). The Italian government also granted more than $1.4 million to seven Kenyan programs, with the bulk of the funding going toward HIV/AIDS efforts, BBC Monitoring Africa reports. Salverio Bertolino, the services' regional representative in Kenya, said that the money would help establish voluntary counseling and testing centers and follow-up care services. The money will also be used to help provide antiretroviral drugs to patients and infant formula to HIV-positive women in order to reduce the risk of HIV transmission through breastfeeding (BBC Monitoring Africa, 10/18).
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