LUSAKA, Aug. 12 (Xinhuanet) -- Zambia has procured enough antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) to be given free to 100,000 people living with HIV/AIDS by December this year, local media reported Friday.

    Ministry of Health spokesperson Victor Mukonka was quoted by Zambia News Agency as saying that the ministry has directed all health institutions in Zambia to put persons living with HIV/AIDS on free ARVs.

    Mukonka said the ministry has reached phase three in the Anti-Retro Treatment (ART) program, adding 100,000 HIV/AIDS-affected persons would be put on free ARVs.

    He said phase three program was aimed at extending its coverageto the whole country and the ministry would soon open more centerswhere people could access free ARVs.

    ARVs work by blocking HIV from replicating and functioning inside the body. While the medicines are not a cure for AIDS, theyhave brought extraordinary hope to people infected and have transformed AIDS into a chronic but manageable disease.

    According to a recent report by the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF), more than 20 million people have died of AIDS over the past two decades worldwide. If antiretroviral therapy had been available to them, most would probably still be alive today, the report said.

    Although the cost of ARVs has plunged dramatically over the past decade, it is still prohibitively high for some of the most-affected countries such as Zambia where one in five adults is believed to be living with HIV/AIDS while 80 percent of its peopleare living in poverty with less than one US dollar a day.

    The rampant disease is choking the country's economy and hindering its long-term development, as a large number of workforce in the country are losing their lives due to the diseasewith life expectancy in the country stands at 33 only. Enditem