by Catholic News Service
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Catholic Medical Mission Board gets grant to fight HIV/AIDS in Sudan
NEW YORK -- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have given a five-year, $5.9 million grant to the New York-based Catholic Medical Mission board to fight the spread of HIV and AIDS in southern Sudan.
The project's goals are to reduce the incidence of new HIV infection through testing and counseling, prevention of mother-to-child transmission, and behavior change to prevent sexual transmission of the virus.
The program will also improve care and support to people living with HIV or AIDS and strengthen the local capacity in Sudan's Western Equatoria state to deliver health services related to HIV and AIDS.
The Catholic Medical Mission Board is partnering with World Vision on the program, called the Anisa Project; anisa means "together" in the Zande language spoken in southern Sudan. The Catholic Medical Mission Board will lead the in-country project implementation.
HIV and AIDS programs administered by the Catholic Medical Mission Board reached 69,786 women with counseling and testing in high-prevalence countries in the last fiscal year. The programs also provided prescription medication for HIV prevention in pregnancy to 1,940 women who tested positive, and tested 1,495 HIV-exposed infants.
In addition, the program provided HIV counseling to 11,198 men and reached another 53,184 men, women and children with antiretroviral treatment, plus 120,001 people with HIV clinical care and support.
