MEDIA RELEASE
Released By:
Downer
Australian Government announces Cambodia HIV/AIDS activity on World AIDS
Day
On World AIDS Day I am pleased to announce that I have approved a
groundbreaking anti-retroviral therapy project that will begin in Cambodia in
January 2004, as part of the Australian Government's six-year, $200 million
Global AIDS Initiative.
HIV/AIDS now affects an estimated 38 million people in developing countries.
In the Asia-Pacific approximately 7.5 million people are infected. It is now
widely recognised that Anti-Retroviral (ARV) therapies have the potential to
prevent early deaths of large numbers of people.
This project will complement existing and anticipated ARV therapy programs by
assisting Cambodia's Health Ministry to develop a research capacity and
information base to optimise ARV therapy efficacy under local conditions.
There has been little research on ARV therapy use in resource-poor settings,
so the results from the Cambodia trial will be significant in determining wider
application in other developing countries.
The Cambodia Anti-Retroviral Therapy Project will be implemented in Cambodia
by the National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research (NCHECR) of the
University of NSW. It is scheduled to start in January 2004 and finish in
December 2005 at an approximate cost of $650,000.
Today also sees the launch of positive.negative, an exhibition by Australian
photographers that documents the impact of HIV/AIDS in the Asia-Pacific region
and Australia's role in addressing the crisis.
The Australian Government, through AusAID, is committed to leading the fight
against the HIV/AIDS epidemic in developing nations, particularly in the
Asia-Pacific, and has built strong partnerships with our regional neighbours to
promote research, information sharing and access to new and innovative
treatments and care.
The positive.negative exhibition, assembled by AusAID with the support of The
Australian Women's Weekly and a number of prominent Australians, will tour
various capital cities around Australia.
I encourage all Australians to visit the exhibition and discover for
themselves the difference they are making to people's lives in our region
through initiatives such as the Cambodia Anti-Retroviral Therapy project.
Contacts:
Chris Kenny (Minister's office) (02) 6277 7500 or 0419 206 890
Jo Elsom (AusAID) (02) 6206 4960 or 0412 804 489