World Bank, Ukraine Health Ministry To Establish Working Group on TB, HIV/AIDS Project Grant

Ukraine's Ministry of Health recently announced that it is establishing a working group with the World Bank to address the resumption of a project aimed at combating HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis in the country, the Ukrainian News reports (Ukrainian News, 6/5). The bank in April announced it was suspending the project because of the government's failure to launch the program and distribute funds. The government had spent 2% of the $60 million the World Bank allocated in January 2004 that was to be disbursed over a four-year period. The program was aimed at providing funds for medicines, training for health care workers and other prevention measures. It was targeted at high-risk groups such as injection drug users, commercial sex workers and prison inmates. Last month, the health ministry agreed to meet all of the bank's requirements for restructuring the project to have the suspended funds restored (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 5/5). The decision to form the working group was made at a June 2 meeting between Ukraine's health minister and World Bank representatives in Washington, D.C. (Ukrainian News, 6/5).