Former President Clinton Discusses Need for Antiretroviral Drugs, Individual Country Plans To Fight HIV/AIDS
Former President Clinton in Little Rock, Ark., on Tuesday discussed his foundation's efforts to increase access to antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS patients worldwide and the need for individualized country approaches to fight the epidemic, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports. The William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation hopes to provide antiretroviral drugs to 100,000 HIV-positive people worldwide by the end of March, a goal that would "significantly" increase the number of people receiving the drugs, Clinton said, according to the Democrat-Gazette. He said that each country must overcome its own cultural and political resistance to fighting the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Democrat-Gazette reports. In China, the Clinton Foundation has helped government officials and local AIDS advocates work together to fight the epidemic (Tubbs, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/12). In September 2004, the Clinton Foundation and India's National AIDS Control Organization signed a memorandum of understanding to provide support for increased HIV/AIDS care, treatment and prevention programs, including the development and implementation of a patient information system, accreditation standards for HIV/AIDS care, overall program monitoring and evaluation, laboratory testing capabilities for antiretroviral treatment, training for health care workers and community mobilization efforts. The foundation and NACO will work in collaboration with UNAIDS, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 9/30/04). Clinton on Tuesday also praised former South African President Nelson Mandela for announcing last week that his son had died of AIDS-related causes, the Democrat-Gazette reports. Clinton said he plans to travel to India and China, where his foundation is working on HIV/AIDS projects (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 1/12).
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