LAGOS, Dec. 22 (Xinhuanet) -- Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjoon Thursday approved free anti-retroviral treatment (ARV) for people living with HIV/AIDS in Africa's most populous country from January 2006 as "Christmas gift," his health minister said.

    Eyitayo Lambo said the gesture, which will cost Africa's biggest oil producer over 1.44 billion naira (11 million US dollars) on treating 100,000 HIV/AIDS victims next year, would contribute towards ensuring that people living with the virus complied and adhered to treatment, according to the official News Agency of Nigeria.

    Nigeria, which has the world's third largest HIV positive population with an estimated 3.5 million sufferers, has asked patients to pay for at least part of their own AIDS care including drugs and monitoring before.

    Lambo said Obasanjo also approved free antenatal care and delivery for all HIV positive women in federal government health institutions from the same date.

    He said that all chief executives and heads of federal government health institutions had been directed to comply fully with the directive.

    The minister explained that that the government realized that the 1,000 naira (about 8 dollars) subsidy granted each HIV/AIDS victim per month for treatment was not good enough, as many of them could afford their own counterpart contribution of 1,000 naira.

    Lambo assured that there was a solid arrangement for the supply and availability of drugs, including efforts to get an Irish firm to commence HIV/AIDS test kits production in Abuja by September, 2006.

    "The sustainability of present efforts hinges on local production. Fidson pharmaceutical company and three other companies are in the process of starting local production of ARV drugs in the country," he said. About 4 billion naira (30 million dollars) would be spent on drugs and test kits for HIV/AIDS in 2006 as against the 800 million naira (6 million dollars) appropriated for the same purpose this year, he added.

    Obasanjo has since his installment in 1999 identified the HIV/AIDS pandemic as "a major development issue" that requires a strategic direction. He had announced the plan to raise the number of HIV/AIDS patients currently benefiting from subsidized antiretroviral drugs from 50,000 to 100,000 in 2005 and 350,000 by 2007. Enditem