Zimbabwean Minister for Health and Child Welfare David Parirenyatwa has said the United Nations Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved a grant of 105 million US dollars to the country for its fight against the three killer diseases.

The money will be channeled through the Country's Coordinating Mechanism (CCM), comprising representatives from the government, non-governmental organizations, United Nations agencies, the National AIDS Council and other interested stakeholders, including people living with HIV/AIDS, said the minister on Thursday.

The CCM is responsible for coordinating the submission of a national proposal for funding, based on the strengths of stakeholders' agreement on strategy and identification of financing gaps.

Parirenyatwa said once released, the funds will be divided into three tranches, according to local media on Friday.

HIV/AIDS programs will get the lion's share of 62.7 million US dollars, the anti-malaria component will receive 29.9 million US dollars and TB programs will be allotted 13.7 million US dollars.

Early this year, Zimbabwe received 10.3 million US dollars from the Global Fund, which was established in 2001 to fight the three diseases.

Parirenyatwa said it was his hope that with more funds for AIDS programs, the government would be able to scale up anti-retroviral treatment (ART) in the country.

Only around 30,000 people are on the government's ART program at the government and mission hospitals throughout the country.

With more funds coming, the government would be able to provide treatment to as many as 100,000 people by the end of the year.

The coming of funds from the Global Fund is also expected to see the introduction of the Fixed Drug Combination Tuberculosis Treatment Program, a new cocktail of drugs.

The government's initial application to the UN agency was for 400 million US dollars to enable the country to effectively fight malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

It is not yet clear as to when the 105 million US dollars will be released as some assessments will have to be conducted. However, with approval the main issue is done.

For three years, the country was denied funds for what the government said were impertinent and purely political reasons.

Source: Xinhua