Thursday, August 14, 2008

Venezuela Distributes Free Antiretroviral Drugs

Venezuela distributed free antiretroviral drugs to 23,000 HIV patients, as part of programs to improve their quality of life.
Health Minister Jesus Mantilla said the distribution of such drugs is an expression of programs that benefit HIV patients to fight discrimination against them and to promote prevention. Quoted by the Bolivarian News Agency (ABN), Mantilla recalled that in 1998, a year before President Hugo Chavez took office, only 200 patients HIV received medicine.
As part of those actions, he explained, free medicine is being distributed at schools, prisons, nightclubs and HIV-vulnerable places. He noted that in addition to the National AIDS Program, the Health Ministry is carrying out programs against cancer and diabetes, and in favor of breast-feeding.

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