Nearly $6 million is en route to help Cambodia fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic, according to a statement from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
The money, granted Thursday in New York by the Global Fund, will supplement programs to prevent HIV transmission and initiatives providing care for patients, UNAIDS Country Program Adviser Geoff Manthey said.
NGOs, donors and the government spent between $10 million and $15 million last year to combat AIDS.
The $5.8 million could arrive within months, Manthey said. If Cambodia can show the money was used effectively, the funding will be extended to a total of $15.9 million over the next three years.
The Global Fund met Cambodia’s grant proposal for HIV/AIDS programs, which was sent in March, Manthey said. But the Fund denied requests for help with malaria and tuberculosis.
The ministries of Health, Defense, Interior and Labor and Social Affairs will receive some of the money, Manthey said. Khana, Population Services International, Nyemo, Medicins du Monde and other NGOs will benefit from the grant, he said.
Some of the money will be used for anti-retroviral drugs, Manthey said.
In addition to money from the Global Fund, the UNAIDS office will likely get extra funding to help coordinate the funds, Manthey said.
The Global Fund was created last year with $2.08 billion. Approximately $700 million is expected to be handed out this year. A second round of grants is expected later this year.
Thirty-one countries received a total of $378 million to be spent over the next two years, a Global Fund statement said.
The grants were selected from more than 300 submitted proposals.
