Harare, Zimbabwe (PANA) - Health authorities in Zimbabwe said Thursday the country would get US$500 million in funding from the Global Fund to fight HIV, AIDS, Tuberculosis and malaria.
Health Minister David Parirenyatwa said the country's application to the Global Fund had been approved, after twice being turned down in the last few years.
"We are very pleased that the Technical Review Panel (an arm of the Global Fund) has approved our application because funding for Zimbabwe was long overdue, considering that we did not get anything from the previous two consecutive rounds, yet our neighbouring countries got funding many times compared to us," he said.
"The country has also posted many achievements, especially in the area of HIV and AIDS where we have recorded a downward trend in the HIV prevalence rate," he added.
Zimbabwe, which is at odds with major Western powers over human rights, previously accused the Global Fund of making political considerations in denying it funding.
Although falling, the country has one of the highest HIV prevalence rates in the region, and an estimated 5,000 people in Zimbabwe succumb to the disease every week.
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