Romania To Receive $40M From Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis Programs

Romanian authorities on Tuesday said that the country will receive nearly $40 million in funding from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to support HIV/AIDS and TB programs in the country, the Associated Press reports. About 10,000 people in Romania are HIV-positive, according to the Associated Press (Associated Press, 4/21). The country's Ministry of Health said it expects to receive about $21.8 million over the next two years to establish 61 programs to fight AIDS. The programs, which will be created in cooperation with nongovernmental organizations, will include training for health care workers, educating high-risk groups about HIV/AIDS prevention and improving services for HIV-positive people, according to Rompres (Rompres, 4/21). Other programs will aim to educate students and young men in the military about HIV/AIDS prevention. About $16.8 million from the fund will be spent on 20 programs to fight TB, according to the Associated Press (Associated Press, 4/20). Health Minister Ovidiu Brinzan said that it is the "first time" that public agencies had collaborated with NGOs to fight HIV/AIDS, according to Rompres (Rompres, 4/21).