CRS-led consortium gets $335 million AIDS program grant

Published: 2004-02-24

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- A consortium including Catholic Relief Services and the Catholic Medical Mission Board was awarded one of the first federal grants in a new campaign to provide care and support for people with HIV/AIDS in nine foreign countries. The $335 million grant announced Feb. 23 will finance a five-year program through which the five-member consortium will provide drug treatment and other support for 137,600 people with HIV/AIDS. The other members of the consortium are the University of Maryland Institute of Human Virology, Interchurch Medical Assistance and the Futures Group. Christine Tucker, director of HIV/AIDS global response for CRS, said the specialties each member brings to the consortium mean that they will be able to very quickly get necessary anti-retroviral drugs to people with HIV/AIDS in the targeted countries. CRS, the U.S. bishops' overseas relief and development agency, already has programs of education and support for people with HIV/AIDS in many of the countries where it operates. Catholic Medical Mission Board provides health care services throughout the developing world.

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