OUAGADOUGOU, Dec 3 (AFP) - A Canadian non-profit organisation on Monday launched the third phase of a programme to combat HIV and AIDS in west Africa, focusing on prostitutes who have a high HIV-positive rate.
The Canadian Center for International Cooperation in Health and Development (CCISD) estimates the cost of its "Sida 3", or AIDS 3, project at 16 billion CFA francs (21.8 million dollars/24.4 million Euros) in the next five years.
"Concentrating our efforts to fight AIDS on prostitutes is to be explained by the very high rate of transmission in these circles," CCISD director Pierre Vieux said.
The Quebec-based CCISD has been fighting the AIDS pandemic in west Africa through its Sida 1 and Sida 2 programmes for more than a decade, with funding from the Canadian International Development Agency.
The third phase of the programme, to be implemented in Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo, will be aimed at sex workers because their HIV-positive rate is about 43 percent.
Community participation and preventive measures, as well as education, are key aspects of the plan, according to a CCISD statement.
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