Thousands set to benefit from US AIDS initiative

The US embassy has revealed that more than US $72 million was spent on HIV/AIDS programmes in South Africa over the past five months.

According to embassy spokeswoman Judy Moon, the funding was part of George W Bush's Presidential Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), a US $15-billion initiative restricted to helping 14 countries to fight HIV/AIDS.

Figures indicate that during the five-month period, 3,600 South Africans had received anti-AIDS drugs through the PEPFAR initiative, which is still ongoing.

Moon told the South African Press Association the programmes were subjected to "rigorous monitoring, evaluating and auditing", but it was still too early to talk about results.