Global fund gives Mali 170 mln USD to fight HIV/AIDS

The Global Fund Against AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has agreed to give Mali 100 billion CFA Francs (over 170 million U.S. dollars) to promote prevention and fight against HIV/AIDS, an official source said Tuesday.

An announcement in this regard was made by Michel Sidibe, the executive director of the Joint UN Program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), after meeting with Mali President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita in Bamako.

"The Global Fund has renewed its partnership with Mali by giving the country over 100 billion CFA Francs. This is a clear demonstration of the good working relationship," Sidibe told the media.

He said due to insecurity in the North, Mali lost drugs worth 300 million CFA Francs for people who need the drugs to survive.

"Besides the violence, health centers were ransacked and health officers were forced to flee," he said, adding that "this is why the Global Fund had decided to intervene to ensure health becomes a reality for the Malian population."

The UNAIDS executive director said he was confident of president Keita's personal commitment and determination to ensure "health becomes a reality for the Malian population."

In November 2012, the Global Fund announced that it would resume funding Mali after reducing the country's allocation in 2011 due to corruption.

Since then, the Malian government and the Global Fund have taken measures aimed at restoring trust in the management of the funds and guarantee continuity of anti-HIV services for the people in need.

Latest official statistics show that there are 50,000 people living with HIV in Mali and 30,000 of them benefit from anti-retroviral treatment.

According to the National Supreme Council for the Fight Against AIDS, the prevalence rate of the disease decreased from 1.7 percent in 2006 to 1.1 percent in 2013.

However, according to UNAIDS, despite the drop, Mali records 3,000 new infections each year. Endit