PHA-Exchange> World Bank Announces New Strategic Plan To Fight HIV/AIDS

[Claudio]

From: "Vern Weitzel" <vern.weitzel at undp.org>
 World Bank Announces New Strategic Plan To Fight HIV/AIDS

> World Bank Announces New Strategic Plan To Fight
> HIV/AIDS

>        The World Bank on Wednesday announced a
> strategic plan to combat HIV/AIDS worldwide with the
> aim of strengthening the bank's approach to the
> disease using no-interest lending, grants, analysis,
> technical support and advice on AIDS policy for
> developing countries, the AP/Seattle
> Post-Intelligencer reports. The plan will use the
> "Three Ones" approach for each country: one national
> HIV/AIDS authority, one national strategic plan and
> one system to track and assess the plan's success. It
> also will use reliable data to assess the risk,
> pattern and rate of spread of the virus and its effect
> on local areas (AP/Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 11/30).
> The plan focuses attention on women, young people and
> high-risk populations (Xinhuanet, 12/1). "The barriers
> that blunt our collective efforts to reverse the
> spread of HIV/AIDS are a mixture of long-standing, as
> well as newly emerging, challenges," World Bank
> President Paul Wolfowitz said, adding, "National
> HIV/AIDS strategic plans are for the most part not
> well-devised with clear priorities; prevention, care,
> and treatment efforts are still nowhere near equal to
> slowing down, or stopping, the virus; and progress
> continues to be eroded by pitfalls in management and
> implementation." The World Bank will continue to serve
> as a major funder of HIV/AIDS work in low- and
> middle-income countries, according to the plan (World
> Bank release, 11/30).