Brazil has said it is ready to supply cheap anti-AIDS drugs to African countries, including Zambia.
Brazilian Ambassador designate to Zambia, George Neyde Souza Fernandez, told a gathering in Zambia's capital, Lusaka, this week that his country had succeeded in developing its own versions of branded antiretroviral drugs.
The local Post newspaper quoted Fernandez as saying: "We are aware that HIV/AIDS ... [has] affected Africa in great proportions, just as it has had a devastating effect in Brazil. We must do whatever we can to mitigate the impact of AIDS on our people, mainly on orphans, vulnerable children and youth ... "
Brazil has an HIV prevalence rate of 0.6 percent and is treating 170,000 HIV-positive people, but expects the number to rise to 180,000 this year and 215,000 in 2008.
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