ZAMBIA TO PROVIDE FREE ARVS TO HIV/AIDS PATIENTS

The Zambian Ministry of Health has procured enough antiretrovirals (ARVs) to treat 100,000 HIV/AIDS patients by the end of the year. The Ministry of Health has subsequently directed all health institutions in Zambia to provide ARVs free of charge to those in need. In addition, a number of extra treatment centres will be created in the country in order to cope with the increased rollout of medicines.

The Zambian government recently announced that debt relief by the Group of Eight (G8) industrialised nations would allow it to spend millions of dollars on the provision of free HIV/AIDS drugs. HIV/AIDS has affected Zambia severely, with the nation's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) claiming that the pandemic has caused a drop in food production and land being cultivated. Agriculture is vital to the Zambian economy and as a result the United Nations (UN) has recently spent US$1mn on raising awareness of HIV/AIDS and promoting sustainable farming practices.

There are currently 200,000 people in Zambia suffering from HIV/AIDS but only an estimated 13,000 of them have access to life-saving ARVs.