The Taoiseach has signed a deal with a foundation run by former US president Bill Clinton to provide €70 million to help fight HIV/Aids in Africa.
Mr Ahern announced this morning the money would be provided under a renewed partnership with the Clinton Foundation and would be targeted at fighting the virus in Mozambique and Lesotho.
The funding will be used to support the national responses of both countries to the HIV/Aids pandemic "particularly in the areas of testing and counselling, the provision of anti-retroviral treatments and critical support for national health systems," a statement said.
Former US president Bill Clinton and Taoiseach Bertie Ahern at Farmleigh House in Dublin today
Speaking at the signing of the agreement in Farmleigh this morning, Mr Ahern said: "Mr Clinton has worked to transform Aids from a death sentence into a manageable disease. He has brokered deals to make HIV drugs affordable and readily available.
"He has used his influence with world leaders to make the plight of their HIV-positive population a problem they could not ignore."
Ireland donates over €100 million per year to help developing countries halt the spread of the virus and treat those who have already contracted it.
In 2003, the Government signed its first agreement with the Clinton Foundation by donating €40 million to its work in Mozambique.
Irish funding already given to Mozambique through the foundation has put 20,000 people on anti-retroviral treatment and built 38 health clinics. The country, which has a HIV rate of 16 per cent, has also seen the creation of laboratory services, more drugs and increased access to HIV services.
More than 23 per cent of Lesotho's population is infected with HIV
- one of the highest concentrations in the world.
The Irish Aids funding will help that country's Health Ministry to improve the procurement and management of drugs and to recruit and train health workers. Measures to increase HIV treatment for children will also be pursued.