Kazakhstan Health Minister Calls for More Funds for HIV/AIDS Program
Kazakhstan Health Minister Zhaksylyk Doskaliyev on Monday said that the country needs to increase funding for its HIV/AIDS programs, Interfax News reports. Doskaliyev, who was attending a session of the Kazakh Coordinating Council for AIDS Prevention and Treatment, along with representatives from the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNESCO, said that Kazakhstan has developed a national AIDS prevention program, which is scheduled to run through 2005. The program will be financed by approximately $203,000 from the national budget and approximately $2.4 million from local budgets, Interfax News reports. Doskaliyev said, "We will also use $22.36 million assigned from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. However, it will take [approximately $151 million] to implement the national program within four years." According to official estimates, there are 3,506 HIV-positive people in the country, including 83 AIDS cases, and 50 new HIV cases are reported each month, Interfax News reports (Interfax News, 4/28).
This is part of the Morning Briefing, a summary of health policy coverage from major news organizations. Sign up for an email subscription.