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Free AIDS drugs in remote area

    JOHANNESBURG

    The international medical NGO, Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), has launched the first free antiretroviral (ARV) drug programme in a remote part of Ethiopia.

    MSF said in a statement that 13 HIV-positive people had already started treatment at the Kahsay Abera hospital in the northwestern town of Humera.

    The head of MSF's Ethiopia mission, Rik Nagelkerke, said: "We are very excited... In close cooperation with the regional and federal authorities, we have shown it's possible to bring ARVs to Humera. We hope to increase the numbers of beneficiaries soon, and also to set an example in Ethiopia of a treatment programme that others could learn from and emulate."

    MSF is working with the Bureau of Health, a local patient-support group and a local women's group in the selection of people for treatment.

    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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