Irish president calls for stronger HIV intervention

Visiting Irish president, Mary McAleese, has called for strong intervention to curb the rate of HIV transmission in Tanzania. On a five-day trip to Africa, McAleese visited rural areas in the East African state, where an estimated seven percent of the population is living with HIV/AIDS. "Tanzania has made considerable progress in this light, and more should be done to stem the virus," she told journalists after touring the Mti Mmoja village in the northern Monduli district on Wednesday evening. Although the deaths of some 160,000 Tanzanians were attributed to HIV/AIDS in 2003, it is estimated that only one in five cases are actually reported, grossly understating the extent of the epidemic. In 2005, the Irish government granted Tanzania 25 million Euros for education, health and good governance programmes.