World Bank Announces New Strategic Plan To Fight HIV/AIDS

The World Bank on Wednesday announced a strategic plan to combat HIV/AIDS worldwide with the aim of strengthening the bank's approach to the disease using no-interest lending, grants, analysis, technical support and advice on AIDS policy for developing countries, the AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports. The plan will use the "Three Ones" approach for each country: one national HIV/AIDS authority, one national strategic plan and one system to track and assess the plan's success. It also will use reliable data to assess the risk, pattern and rate of spread of the virus and its effect on local areas (AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 11/30). The plan focuses attention on women, young people and high-risk populations (Xinhuanet, 12/1). "The barriers that blunt our collective efforts to reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS are a mixture of long-standing, as well as newly emerging, challenges," World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said, adding, "National HIV/AIDS strategic plans are for the most part not well-devised with clear priorities; prevention, care, and treatment efforts are still nowhere near equal to slowing down, or stopping, the virus; and progress continues to be eroded by pitfalls in management and implementation." The World Bank will continue to serve as a major funder of HIV/AIDS work in low- and middle-income countries, according to the plan (World Bank release, 11/30).