Access to AIDS money granted

A US $52 million Global AIDS Fund grant has been released to Kenya to tackle HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over two years, the BBC reported on Thursday. The permanent secretary in the Ministry of Health, Wellington Godo, said the government was now able to access the grant, following approval of the country's proposal by the Fund. While examining the eligibility of 235 Kenyan AIDS NGOs for access to the grant funds earlier this year, the ministry confirmed that "no effort would be spared to root out corrupt individuals". According to the donor financial agreement of the Fund, part of the grant for HIV/AIDS would be controlled by selected NGOs, with the Ministry of Health overseeing any remaining amounts. Godo said $37 million had been allocated for the up-scaling and improvement of voluntary counselling and testing, AIDS-related treatment and education.