French-speaking sub-saharan Africa needs help to fight aids
New York14 Oct - (ANA) -  Despite great progress within a short time, the 29 French-speaking countries of sub-Saharan Africa are lagging far behind other states in the region in the battle against HIV/AIDS and need a massive increase in international aid,
according to a United Nations report. “It is decision time for La Francophonie,” Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director
of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS), told a news conference in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where the report was released at a summit meeting of the 56-member state
International Organization of La Francophonie (IOF), a grouping of one of the biggest linguistic zones in the world.
“While out actions so far are laudable, they will not take us to the finish line. We must redouble our efforts for the AIDS response and act decisively,” Mr. Sidibé. (ANA)

FA/ANA/14 October 2012----------