Panafrican News Agency - November 27, 2001
The Bank said Tuesday that Zewdie would be responsible for intensifying its field work and represent the Bank in the global movement of governments, communities, private companies, development agencies and civil society groups, involved in the AIDS fight.
"We believe this new position under Debrework Zewdie will help to galvanise our efforts even more to make a difference in developing countries, which are struggling with social and economic ravages of HIV/AIDS, and to raise global awareness and resources to combat and prevent the disease," said Jozef Ritzen, World Bank Vice President for Human Development.
Before her appointment, Zewdie was Manager of the Bank's AIDS Campaign Team for Africa, where she helped in the implementation of the Bank's Multi-country HIV/AIDS Programme (MAP).
Through MAP, the Bank committed 500 million dollars last year to help a number of African countries to expand effective prevention, care and treatment measures.
The beneficiary countries were Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria and Uganda.
With the first tranche of the MAP resources exhausted, the Bank says it is considering the provision of another 500 million dollars to be dispensed as interest-free loans through its International Development Association arm.
About 36 million people, 25 million in Africa, are estimated to be infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
The Bank and UNAIDS, the UN's lead agency on AIDS, estimate that three billion dollars would be needed every year to fund prevention, care and treatment programmes in Africa.
A new global Fund was set up this year to mobilise resources for tackling AIDS and other diseases like malaria and tuberculosis, in developing countries.
But while seven billion dollars is needed every year to deal with the pandemic globally, only about one billion dollars has so far been pledged to the Fund.
The World Bank estimates that annual per capita income in half of the worst affected countries is falling by between 0.2 and 1.2 percent as a result of the pandemic.
The fall is projected to reach eight percent by 2010.
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