24189: (pub) Chamberlain: U.S. to double AIDS-fighting support to Haiti -envoy (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: Greg Chamberlain <GregChamberlain@compuserve.com>

     By Joseph Guyler Delva

     PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, Feb 2 (Reuters) - U.S. funding to fight
HIV/AIDS will nearly double to $40 million this year in Haiti, where the
United Nations says one in 10 people could contract the virus within a
decade if recent trends continue, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
     Haiti is one of 15 nations U.S. President George W. Bush has
designated to receive special assistance fighting HIV/AIDS, the U.S. global
AIDS coordinator, Randall Tobias, said at a news conference with Interim
Prime Minister Gerard Latortue.
     "The United States' government provided in 2004 about $22 million in
support specifically for HIV/AIDS programs in Haiti and in 2005, our plan
is to nearly double that support to about $40 million," Tobias said.
     In 2002, 6.31 percent of Haiti's 8 million people were HIV-positive,
up from 4.98 percent in 1996, according to a U.N. report released in
November. The report predicted that rate would rise to 10.5 percent by 2015
if current trends continue.
     Haiti is the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and political
strife has frustrated efforts to improve medical and other infrastructure.
     In 2003, Bush pledged $15 billion over five years to help combat the
spread of HIV/AIDS, mostly in Africa and the Caribbean. Haiti was among the
targeted nations.
     Nearly 3,000 AIDS patients in Haiti have received anti-retroviral
treatment and other care under the plan, which includes doctor training,
medical infrastructure improvements and education programs aimed at
preventing the spread of the virus. It also provides care for children
orphaned by AIDS, Tobias said.
     "I want to assure all of you that the people of the United States will
continue to be here working hard alongside those of you in Haiti to fight
HIV/AIDS," Tobias said.
     Latortue urged all Haitians to get tested for the virus.
     "Don't be afraid to test. If you don't have it, you know you don't
have it; if you have it, treatment is available," he said.