ADDIS ABABA, Dec 2 (AFP) - The Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) is to start distributing free anti-retroviral drugs (ARVs) from mid-December to people living with HIV/AIDS and cannot afford them, an ERCS official said late Monday.
"The society is preparing to distribute the drugs free of charge to low income HIV-positive people people in Addis Ababa, with the first beneficiaries expected to be sex workers," ERCS official Getachew Gezahegn told a gathering in Addis Ababa on Monday night to mark World AIDS Day.
"It is estimated that currently between 300 to 1,500 people are expected to come forward to prove that they are incapable of meeting the cost of the ARVs, so that they can get them free of charge," Getachew said.
Getachew said his office has been selling ARVs to victims at reasonable prices in two drug stores it has opened in the city.
Along its other humanitarian services, he further said, the ERCS has been providing care to certain people living with HIV/AIDS, raising awareness and orientating to several hundreds of youths, mainly students.
UNAIDS estimates that about three million Ethiopians are currently living with the HIV virus, most of them unable to afford drugs.
The death rate due to AIDS related causes among the youth is growing every day, thereby affecting the country's agricultural based economy, as the productive force is falling due to HIV/AIDS pandemic.
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