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Namibia joins refugee ARV rollout campaign

    JOHANNESBURG

    Namibia has joined South Africa and Zambia on the list of countries now guaranteeing refugees access to antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees said on Wednesday.

    Laurie Bruns, the UNHCR regional HIV/AIDS adviser, said Namibia's collaboration was a timely intervention for those refugees threatened with certain death due to their lack of access to ARVs.

    "This is another step toward the UNHCR goal of eventually getting formal inclusion of refugees in the HIV/AIDS programmes of every country," she said in a statement.

    Most Southern African countries provide assistance on an unofficial basis, leaving Botswana as the only country that officially denies refugees equal access to ARVs through its public health system.

    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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