ADDIS ABABA, Dec 8 (AFP) - The regional Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Monday launched a one-year pilot programme to monitor and evaluate HIV and AIDS in its seven member states.
"The significance of the monitoring and evaluating programme is to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic and build the capacity of national HIV/AIDS monitoring and evaluation operations in countries of the sub-region," IGAD's chief for trade, industry and tourism Gerald Mbuthia told an opening session here of a five-day regional workshop to launch the programme.
"The objective of the programme is to improve the HIV/AIDS monitoring capacity of the IGAD countries," he said.
He said monitoring and evaluation was essential in order to detect and address problems, provide early evidence of programme effectiveness and communicate to those infected by HIV/AIDS.
The programme will also establish a network of practitioners in the region dealing with the disease.
IGAD countries include Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan, Uganda and nominally Somalia.
The Africa region has been heavily devastated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic, with the killer disease the leading cause of death in the continent this year -- 2.3 million deaths and 3.2 million new infections.
A new global estimate released a few weeks ago showed that 40 million people worldwide are living with HIV/AIDS, including 2.5 million children under 15 years of age, Mbuthia told participants.
The World Banks has allocated nearly half a million dollars for the implementation of the programme, a Bank officials said.
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