COTE D IVOIRE: AIDS treatment access hampered by civil strife

JOHANNESBURG, 28 September (PLUSNEWS) - Cote d’Ivoire’s target of having 63,000 HIV-positive people on treatment by the end of 2005 will fail because of fighting in parts of the country, a UN official has said.

UNAIDS country adviser Mamoudou Diallo said the conflict has resulted in the destruction of many healthcare facilities in the west, while medical staff had fled the rebel-held north.

He noted that only 2,300 people currently had access to anti-AIDS drugs, although funding was available to provide the subsidised treatment to scores more.

Diallo told the UN news service PlusNews: "There are so many things to do in this country that the time allowed seems too short to meet the target. We won’t make it."