Ethiopian President Declares War on ‘Devastating Enemy’
In an address to Ethiopia's six-month-old National HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Council, President Negasso Ghildada on Friday urged council members to better coordinate efforts to curb the HIV epidemic, underlining the government's concern over the "rapid increase in AIDS cases" in the country, the Associated Press reports. "The battle we are waging against the pandemic has not yet been properly organized, and until we prevail over this devastating enemy, it will inflict substantial human, economic and social losses," Negasso told council members. Ethiopia is among the most severely affected countries in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated three million of its 62 million citizens infected with HIV (Andualem, Associated Press, 10/28). "Concerted efforts must be undertaken to mobilize the entire population to fight this fatal disease," Negasso added (Agence France-Presse, 10/28). At the meeting, Dr. Dagnathew Haile-Mariam announced that "donors have pledged to support" Ethiopia's HIV/AIDS prevention and control program, with the World Bank recently approving $59.7 million for the $63 million program (Associated Press, 10/28).
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