OPEC Donates $4 Million to Fight HIV/AIDS in Asia

The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has donated $4 million to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies to fight HIV/AIDS in Asia and the Pacific region, the Associated Press reports. The money will fund HIV prevention programs, projects that provide care for people affected by HIV/AIDS and educational efforts to reduce the stigma surrounding the disease in several countries, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Papua New Guinea and 11 nations in the Pacific region. "We have no time to lose as many countries in the region face a major epidemic unless urgent action is taken now," IFRC Secretary General Didier Cherpitel said. OPEC has already donated $3.2 million to fight HIV/AIDS in Central America and $8.1 million to fight the epidemic in Africa this year (Associated Press, 11/12).