The Irish Government today pledged €6 million to start an agreement between the Development Cooperation Ireland (DCI) and the Clinton Foundation to help treat AIDS sufferers in Mozambique.
In all the Irish Government agreed to commit €40 million euros in aid over the next five years.
The agreement will work in tandem with the Ministry for Health in Maputo (Mozambique) to build an integrated health service, which will for the first time, begin building a service offering full anti-retroviral treatment for AIDS sufferers.
There are 3,500 AIDS patients currently being treated by the health service in Mozambique with that number expected to rise to 8,000 within the year. By the time the integrated health service is fully operational it is hoped that over 130,000 will be receiving treatment. Latest estimates say there are 1.2 million people living with HIV or AIDS in Mozambique .
Mr Tom Kitt, the Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs, who announced the funding said, "the justification for treatment is self-evident - if it is appropriate in a wealthy country, it is appropriate everywhere".
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