World Bank approves millions in AIDS assistance

Ethiopia and Kenya are set to become the first two African countries to receive AIDS assistance in the form of a soft loan from the World Bank. The bank has approved US $500 million in credits to help Africa combat AIDS, with the first recipients to benefit being Ethiopia and Kenya. The two countries would receive US $59.7 million and US $50 million respectively, according to the 13 September AP report. “Last April we promised that no sensible AIDS programme would want for funding,” said Bank President James Wolfensohn in a statement on Tuesday night announcing the credit. “Today we deliver on that promise,” the report said. An estimated 25 million of the world’s 34.5 million AIDS victims live in Africa and some 15 million Africans had already died, it said, adding that UN experts had estimated African countries would need US $1 billion to US $3 billion a year to fight the disease. African countries would use the credit to increase prevention campaigns, establish treatment programmes and deal with the burdens they would face as millions with the HIV virus develop AIDS over the next decade.