Clinton Announces Plan To Provide $250,000, 23 Medical Experts To Tackle HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia

Former President Clinton on Sunday announced that the Clinton Foundation plans to provide $250,000 for an HIV/AIDS program in Ethiopia under which 23 medical experts from Yale University will work in 13 hospitals across the country for one year, AFP/Today Online reports. Nearly three million people in Ethiopia are thought to be HIV-positive, and about one million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses (AFP/Today Online, 7/17). In related news, Clinton during a visit to Malawi on Friday urged African leaders to promote voluntary HIV testing. Clinton was in the country to launch new initiatives by the Clinton-Hunter Development Initiative, which seeks to eradicate HIV/AIDS and poverty. The initiative has allocated an initial $100 million for Malawi and Rwanda, and its first projects will fund health, education, infrastructure, agriculture and business (Phiri, Reuters, 7/14). Clinton last week also announced that he hoped his foundation could reduce prices for second-line antiretroviral drugs by the end of 2006 (Kahn, BusinessDay, 7/14). Clinton in January announced an agreement reached by his foundation allowing the sale of the antiretrovirals efavirenz and abacavir, as well as HIV tests, at a lower cost in developing countries, marking the first time the foundation has reduced prices for second-line antiretroviral drugs (Kaiser Daily HIV/AIDS Report, 1/13).