Germany makes Aids pledge

Germany has made a major donation to help the fight against Aids in Africa.

The nation has contributed €23 million (£14 million) to the cause, the Organisation for the Coordination of the Struggle Against Epidemics in Central Africa has revealed.

This follows the signing of an agreement earlier this week for Germany to do so.

The funding will be provided from 2009 until 2012, with the money being spent on three major schemes.

These are to educate people in Central Africa about the ways in which the disease can be spread and its dangers, reducing discrimination against those diagnosed with Aids and improving the provision of condoms.

Earlier this week, the Pan Caribbean Partnership Against HIV/Aids revealed that new infections of HIV in the Caribbean fell from 20,000 in 2007 to 17,000 last year.

Increasing use of condoms was noted by the group as one possible reason for this decline.

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