Italian college honors Sant'Egidio for African AIDS treatment program

Published: 2004-04-14

ROME (CNS) -- The medical school of Italy's Aquila University will give its first award for organizations involved in health care in the developing world to the Rome-based Community of Sant'Egidio. The award, to be presented April 23 at the university, honors the Catholic lay community for its program to treat people with HIV/AIDS in Mozambique and other parts of Africa. The Sant'Egidio program is called DREAM, an acronym for Drug Resource Enhancement against AIDS and Malnutrition, and offers patients free of charge the full triple cocktail of antiretroviral drugs standard in Europe and North America, but virtually unknown in Africa. The program also includes nutritional supplements, HIV testing and counseling, as well as health education and home-health visits to assist patients in following the treatment regime.

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