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HIV-positive public servants costly - government

    JOHANNESBURG

    Namibia says it is feeling the pinch of providing treatment to civil servants living with HIV and AIDS.

    Finance Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said the annual cost of the Public Service Employees' Medical Aid Scheme had risen by more than US $21 million over the past year, due to the high number of members needing anti-AIDS drugs.

    In a recent speech to the National Assembly, the minister called for an urgent approval of just over $11 million to help keep state medical scheme afloat.

    A local newspaper, The Namibian, quoted Kuugongelwa-Amadhila as saying: "We are currently experiencing a situation where the appropriated funds for the government medical scheme are already depleted."

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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