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Cheap anti-AIDS drugs up, medical personnel down - Clinton

    JOHANNESBURG

    HIV-positive Africans are receiving cheaper anti-AIDS drugs, but countries lack the medical personnel to administer the medication and manage the treatment, former US President Bill Clinton said on Wednesday.

    He was addressing the media in Tanzania's capital, Dar es Salaam, as part of his six-nation tour of Africa to see how the AIDS pandemic is affecting children in the world's poorest continent.

    Reuters quoted Clinton as saying, "We can get you the medicine you need, but the most important barrier to scaling up the antiretroviral treatment is the lack of well-trained people throughout every country."

    Many doctors and nurses leave the continent in search of better pay and working conditions, giving Africa the lowest number of doctors per person globally and the highest prevalence of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

    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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