UK pledges Rp 420b for AIDS fight in RI

UK pledges Rp 420b for AIDS fight in RI

JAKARTA: Britain will give Rp 420 billion (US$45.8 million) to
Indonesia for fighting Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS)
as the world's fourth largest populous nation is already on the
brink of a full scale epidemic, the Antara news agency reported.

The British assistance is the first for the Indonesian
Partnership Fund for HIV/AIDS - a campaign managed by the
government's National AIDS Commission but largely funded by
international organizations and foreign governments.

Britain's Department for International Development (DFID)
representative in Indonesia Sarah Richards, the United Nations
Development Programme (UNDP) representative in Indonesia Bo
Asplund and Coordinating Minister for People's Welfare Alwi
Shihab signed an agreement in Jakarta regarding the three-year
program (2005-2007).

According to the United Nations, there are from 90,000 to
130,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in Indonesia and statistics
show that the disease is spreading rapidly among commercial sex
workers, drug addicts and prison populations.

The DFID is a British government agency that manages UK's aid
to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty,
illiteracy and AIDS. -- JP