Morocco To Expand HIV/AIDS Plan To Reach 1M People, Health Minister Says
Moroccan Health Minister Yasmina Baddou on Wednesday at the House of Representatives announced that the country's 2007 to 2011 National Strategic Plan for AIDS hopes to expand prevention programs to reach one million people by the end of 2011, the Maghreb Arab Presse reports. There were 22,000 people living with HIV in Morocco as of 2007 out of a total population of 30 million, Baddou said.
According to Baddou, the four-year plan aims to provide treatment to people living with HIV and establish an autonomous body to manage and coordinate the efforts of different HIV/AIDS groups working in the country. She added that the plan also intends to increase the number of medical consultants and administer 150,000 HIV tests by 2011. Since launching the plan, the health ministry has collaborated with several partners to focus on prevention and educational activities targeted at populations in highly affected areas, Baddou announced. She said that Morocco has made progress in terms of its HIV testing programs, generalizing drug therapy, conducting epidemiology checks and developing a system for monitoring sexually transmitted infections (Maghreb Arab Presse, 11/6).