Red Cross asks for 300 mln dlrs for Africa HIV care

JOHANNESBURG, Nov 2 (Reuters) The International Red Cross is appealing for 300 million dollars to expand an HIV/AIDS programme in southern Africa that will reach 250,000 patients in rural villages hard-hit by the epidemic.

Southern Africa is home to 12 million HIV-positive people, about one-third of the world's total, and the disease is responsible for almost 8,000 deaths a day in the region.

The Red Cross initiative, the largest launched for Africa, appeals to donors because it is cost effective, relying largely on unpaid helpers to care for sick family and friends, said Mukesh Kapila, a HIV/AIDS representative for the humanitarian organisation.

Some money raised will be spent on purchasing life-sustaining, anti-retroviral drugs, with volunteers making house calls to deliver treatment and ensure patients are taking it on time.

Another piece of the plan is to help 250,000 HIV-positive people through programmes to offer nutritious foods, counselling and staples such as clothes and soap.

In addition, it will provide 460,000 AIDS orphans or children affected by the illness with similar support and cover education fees to boost school enrolment.

The campaign will also seek to diffuse social stigmas attached to the disease, a message that is expected to reach half a million people.

Zimbabwe was the site of the first community-based care centre ten years ago, which has since spread out to 2,373 locations and involves some 200,000 volunteers across ten southern African nations.

The new funding appeal would provide enough money over the next five years to expand to every community in the region that needs help, Kapila said.

REUTERS DKA RAI0928