US university receives $60m to fight AIDS in Kenya

A US university has received a $60 million (£30 million), 5 year grant to help it fight the spread of HIV/AIDS in Kenya.

Indiana University was given the money by the United States Agency for International Development (USAIDS) to allow it to continue its work in partnership with the Moi University Teaching and Referral Hospital in Kenya.

The AMPATH programme, run by the partnership, currently provides care for 52,000 HIV-infected patients in the African country and with the additional funding it hopes to provide care to another 150,000 Kenyans by 2012.

Henrietta H Fore, administrator of USAIDS, said: "USAID made the grant to the AMPATH program because of its success in developing and implementing treatment and prevention programs in Kenya for the past decade."

Through President Bush's President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief programme, we are making resources available in countries with a substantial HIV/AIDS burden. These resources include support for prevention efforts, care and support, and treatment for affected patients," she added.

According to World Health Organization statistics, there were an estimated 1.3 million people living with HIV/AIDS in 2005, with the disease causing approximately 140,000 deaths annually.

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