$10 million from Bill Clinton to fight AIDS

Apr 11 2005

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton announced this week that his foundation will donate $10 million towards treatment for children with AIDS in the developing world.

This will enable AIDS drugs, known as antiretroviral treatment, or ART, and technical assistance to be delivered to 10,000 children in at least 10 nations by the end of the year.

India-based drug company Cipla will make the paediatric AIDS medication available at half the normal cost making the AIDS drugs available for as little as $140 a year. Clinton says treatment and care will now be available and more affordable in the developing world and the initiative which will concentrate on rural areas, will double the number of HIV-infected children being treated in developing countries besides Thailand and Brazil.

His foundation will also help to expand a program administered by Partners in Health in Rwanda to Tanzania and Mozambique and extend AIDS treatment to rural Africa.

Clinton says one in every six AIDS deaths each year is a child yet children represent less than one in every 30 persons getting treatment for AIDS in developing countries today.

Clinton was joined by U.N. officials for the announcement and said his foundation would work with UNICEF to reach another 50,000 children with AIDS next year.

He expects his foundation's multimillion dollar contribution for the paediatric and rural programs to leverage additional funding commitments by governments and international donors.

Peter McDermott, head of HIV/AIDS projects for UNICEF, has called Clinton's step "groundbreaking."

Paul Farmer of Partners in Health said such efforts like this private-public partnership will "make the difference."

An estimated 39 million people are living with HIV, according to the U.N., more than 2 million are children. Three million people died of AIDS last year and more than 5 million were infected.

Clinton's foundation has previously brokered deals with major drug companies to make AIDS testing and treatments available at substantially reduced cost in the developing world.