ITALY has donated two billion lire (about one million dollars) to help rebuild health services in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the United Nations children’s fund Unicef said on Thursday. This brings to eight million dollars contributions so far received towards Unicef’s appeal for DRC for this year, which totals $15-million. Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy said around 70% of people are thought to have little or no access to health care, but the health network is still in place and that this provides a foundation for the rebuilding of the primary health system. Bellamy said the Italian government had also announced an increase of about two million dollars in its contribution to Unicef’s regular resources this year, saying this would help give the agency more “staying power”. – AFP