LUSAKA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved Zambia's application for funds to enhance the fight against HIV/AIDS, a senior government official said on Thursday.
Minister of Health Chitalu Chilufya said the Global Fund Board has approved 270 million U.S. dollars to help the country in fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the next five years.
He told journalists during a media interactive that the government was grateful for the gesture as it will help in putting more HIV-positive people on antiretroviral treatment.
The Zambian minister further said the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has also approved 401 million dollars towards HIV treatment in Zambia for the next five years, adding that the government would ensure prudent utilization of the funds.
The government, he said, was grateful to the cooperating partners for responding positively in helping the country tackle the HIV/AIDS pandemic which was a menace and a threat to the country's development efforts.
He however said the government was not just sitting idle and waiting for donors to fund the health sector, adding that the budget for the health sector has been increasing each year and that government's plan was to reach the 15 percent Abuja target set by the African Union (AU) in 2001.
According to him, the government anticipates an increase in the number of people to be put on antiretroviral treatment following the declaration of mandatory HIV testing, adding that the funds have been approved at an appropriate time.
Currently, about 1.2 million people in Zambia have the HIV virus, with about 800,000 of them on antiretroviral treatment.
