OWN CORRESPONDENT, Cape Town | Tuesday 10.00am.
THE United States will commit $9-million to South Africa’s fight against HIV/Aids next year, a fourfold increase on its 1999 assistance, US Representative Richard Gephardt said on Monday.
Democrat minority leader Gephardt is part of a nine-member bipartisan delegation of the US Congress which is to wrap up a three-country 10-day visit to Africa on Tuesday.
The delegation, which also visited Nigeria and Zimbabwe, held private talks with President Thabo Mbeki in Pretoria on Sunday.
It also met with business leaders in Johannesburg and community activists in Soweto and Cape Town.
“The prevalence of HIV/Aids in sub-Saharan Africa has reached epidemic proportions that threaten the social fabric and economic vitality of each nation,” Gephardt told reporters in Cape Town.
“We discussed this issue at great length with the leaders of each country we visited, emphasised to President Thabo Mbeki yesterday (Sunday) our desire to tackle this crisis together, in an aggressive and comprehensive manner,” he said.
Washington contributed $2-million to South Africa’s anti-Aids campaign in 1999. — AFP