GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Aug 23 (AFP) - The William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation is working to assist Caribbean countries in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and to treat patients, officials said here.
The Foundation and the 15-nation Caribbean Community (Caricom) headquarters in Guyana was hoping to sign a memorandum of understanding to provide help immediately to the region.
"This is an urgent problem as there are hundreds of people dying every day," said Ira Magaziner, Coordinator of the HIV/AIDS initiative at the Clinton Presidential Foundation, on Thursday.
Under the accord, the foundation would assist the Caribbean to negotiate and procure cheaper drugs to treat and care the estimated 500,000 patients.
The agreement also commits the Clinton Foundation to mobilize experts to train nurses, counselors, doctors, behavioral therapists, microbiologists and pharmaceutical-epidemiologists to guarantee high quality treatment and care of HIV/AIDS patients in the Caribbean.
Caricom member-nations and the Dominican Republic need between 260 million to 350 million dollars yearly to fight the disease, according to University of the West Indies estimates.
020823
AF020860
Copyright © AFP or Agence France-Presse, 2002 - All Rights Reserved. AFP articles contained on the AEGiS web site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without AFP's prior written permission. You may make one copy of each article for your personal, non-commercial use only; more copies would require AFP's prior written permission.. http://www.afp.com/
AEGiS is made possible through unrestricted grants from Boehringer Ingelheim, the National Library of Medicine, and donations from users like you. Always watch for outdated information. This article first appeared in 2002. This material is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between you and your doctor.
©1990, 2002 - AEGiS. AEGiS presents published material, reprinted with permission and neither endorses nor opposes any material. All materials appearing on AEGiS are protected by copyright as a collective work or compilation under U.S. copyright and other laws and are the property of AEGiS, or the party credited as the provider of the content.
