Dutch Public Health Minister Hans Hoogervorst has announced that the Netherlands will invest 130 million euros (166 million U.S. dollars) in AIDS research, Radio Netherlands reported on Tuesday.

Speaking at a three-day international AIDS vaccine conference in Amsterdam, he said the funds will be used to found a new research institute, according to the radio.

The pharmaceutical industry and the research departments of various universities in the Netherlands are also contributing to this project.

An estimated 40 million people are infected with HIV throughout the world, and over 25 million people have died of AIDS since the disease was first diagnosed in the late 1970s.

Source: Xinhua