Free US child AIDS treatment on the cards

HIV-positive Zambian children are to benefit from former US President Bill Clinton's one-year plan to treat over 10,000 African toddlers with free anti-AIDS drugs. A team of experts from the Clinton Foundation for HIV/AIDS (CFHA) is expected to visit Zambia to finalise the paediatric antiretoviral deal for the southern African country. Zambian First Lady Maureen Mwanawasa told the local Times of Zambia newspaper that the high cost of child-friendly antiretroviral (ARV) formulas was hampering efforts to treat children. "ARVs in syrup form for children are very expensive - they cost [about US $108.00 per month] and are available in several chemists in Zambia, but poor families cannot afford them," the First Lady noted. Mwanawasa said she would be able to state how many Zambian children would benefit from the initiative once the CFHA experts arrived.