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Afghanistan: HIV/AIDS

Volume 697: debated on Monday 17 December 2007

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What contributions they are making towards the tackling of HIV/AIDS in Afghanistan. [HL869]

There are an estimated 1,000 to 2,000 Afghans living with HIV. Although not directly engaged in tackling HIV/AIDS or the wider health sector in Afghanistan, DfID does monitor the situation in consultation with other donors active in this area, and provides funding to the multi-donor Afghanistan Reconstruction Trust Fund (ARTF), which helps to pay the salaries of government-employed health workers.

In support of HIV/AIDs, the World Bank has committed $10 million, the World Health Organisation $1 million, the Asian Development Bank $1.5 million and France $200,000. Additional funds of $11 million have also been requested recently from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria—GFATM)—to which DfID contributes.

DfID will continue to look to donors active in this sector to provide adequate support as part of its plans to co-ordinate aid behind the forthcoming Afghanistan National Development Strategy—ANDS—due in March 2008. The ANDS is the Afghan Government's own plan for development over the next five years.

The Ministry of Public Health established a Department of AIDS Control in 2005. The national strategy for AIDS control, developed by the Government of Afghanistan, which will run until 2010, includes some key elements for the prevention of AIDS in Afghanistan, including: strengthening the country's system for AIDS detection; obtaining political commitments to fulfil the strategy; improving co-ordination; and raising local awareness of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.