HARARE, Nov 30 (AFP) - President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe Tuesday hit out at what he termed a "neo-colonial onslaught" against the southern African country that he said had affected the fight against AIDS.
In a late-night televised address on the eve of World AIDS Day, Mugabe made reference to the Global AIDS Fund, from which Zimbabwe has so far failed to source funding for its fight against the pandemic.
"Regrettably, the international, neo-colonial onslaught against Zimbabwe has seen the politicisation of even HIV programme resources from such humanitarian institutions as the Global (AIDS) Fund," Mugabe said.
Zimbabwe had an appeal for funds turned down by the Geneva-based institution in July this year, in what the government claimed was a politically-biased decision.
However, the fund, which receives a considerable amount of its funding from the US, a staunch critic of the Mugabe regime, said Zimbabwe's appeal failed because of "technical reasons".
Up to 3,500 people are estimated to be dying from HIV-related illnesses in this southern African country every week.
The pandemic has so far created close to a million orphans who either live on their own or with grandparents in a country of 11.6 million people.
But Mugabe was upbeat about his country's own initiatives in fighting the disease, and lauded home-grown programmes to combat it.
"We should therefore use this year's World AIDS Day commemmorations to rejoice in the knowledge that as a sovereign and united nation we have used our own internal resources and structures to fight and record measurable progress against the pandemic," the 80-year old leader noted.
Zimbabwe is due to mark World AIDS Day Wednesday with festivities planned in the capital Harare.
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