22 Nov 2004

PNG Aids Council says extra dollars voted in budget would be very useful in fight against disease

9:25 pm on 22 November 2004

Papua New Guinea's National Aids Council says it welcomes the government's move to boost funding for HIV Aids.

The government has set aside over 3-million US dollars to assist the fight against the disease, which it is estimated, is now affecting tens of thousands of Papua New Guineans.

The money is expected to come from international aid donors.

The Aids Council's chair, Dr Ninkama Moiya says with extra funds, they could employ more staff, continue with provincial programmes, and fund the Council's restructuring.

"At the moment, we didn't get enough funding from the government to both sustain the Aids Council as well as to fund the programmes. But thanks to AusAID, that was able to provide a lot of funds to support us over the past 4 years or 5 years."

Dr Ninkama Moiya.