The Global Fund signs new AIDS grants with Senegal
05 July 2010
Dakar, 5 July 2010 – Professor Michel Kazatchkine, Executive Director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, today signed three new grants worth € 42 million with Senegal to scale up the fight against AIDS in the country during a ceremony organized under the auspices of the Minister of Economy and Finance Abdoulaye Diop.
The grants aimed at strengthening the country’s health system and the fight against AIDS, will be implemented by the National Aids Council; the Ministry of Health, Prevention and Public Hygiene; and the National Alliance Against AIDS.
"Senegal has been making rapid progress in fighting HIV and these new grants will contribute to efforts to reduce new infections and strengthen the health system," Professor Kazatchkine said. "In particular, they are expected to further bring down infection rates for babies born to HIV-positive women by increasing access to services.”
In a meeting with the Prof. Kazatchkine, the President of Senegal, Abdoulaye Wade, reaffirmed his support for the Global Fund’s replenishment. He committed to mobilizing support from heads of state at the African Union summit in Kampala this month, ahead of the donors meeting chaired by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in October to pledge resources for the Global Fund.
The Global Fund has so far committed more than US$ 90 million for HIV prevention and treatment programs in Senegal. There are currently 67, 000 people living with HIV in the country and more than 6,100 are on treatment through programs supported by the Global Fund. The new grants will provide funding for training of health workers, provision of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission services to pregnant women living with the virus, scale up of AIDS treatment services and strengthening of public and community health services.