Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1998. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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United Press International; Thursday May 28 5:57 PM EDT
Allan Rock told reporters today the $42.2 million package will include funds for prevention, research, care and treatment of patients and to assist non-government organizations.
He said the fund "will become permanent," and will "no longer require renewal at five-year intervals."
Rock said he has set up a ministerial council on AIDS, "an advisory body that will provide the government of Canada with independent advice" on implementing the new strategy against the disease.
Canada is also working to get newly-developed drugs for AIDS and other life-threatening diseases "on the Canadian market sooner."
Rock said international pharmaceutical companies have been submitting their drugs for Canadian testing six months, on average, after they are submitted in the United States.
He said the drug companies will "have to do better," as people are dying of AIDS, and Canada is not "a secondary market."
Rock said the federal government will assist AIDS programs among Aborignal communities and will assist correctional authorities prevent the spread of the disease in prisons.
He said, "While we're having some success in some areas in reducing the rate of infection in some groups of the population, in other areas we're suffering setbacks."
"In 1996, there were about 50,000 Canadians who had been infected with HIV," the virus that causes AIDS, "and today way we face ... several epidemics (which) change very quickly, Rock said."
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