The government has allocated US$590,000 from the General State Budget (OJE) 2014 to the National Commission for Combating HIV/AIDS in Timor-Leste (CNCS-TL).
The commission was established by the government to run preventative education campaigns about the transmission of HIV/AIDS.
Deputy Prime Minister (VPM), Fernando Lasama de Araújo said HIV/AIDS was a national problem that the government was working hard to address.
“We have the budget, US$590,000, approved in my office through the public transfer to allocate to the CNCS-TL to run its programs,” said VPM Lasama, at National Parliament.
CNCS-TL executive secretary Daniel Marçal said the secretariat had prepared the budget and the commission council members would look into what facilities and resources would be needed to carry out the commission’s work.
He said in March the commission would begin an education campaign to prevent the spread of the disease.
According to Ministry of Health data, 355 people tested positive for HIV/AIDS from 2003 to 2013.
Of those 355 people, 39 people died and 129 are currently undergoing anti retro viral treatment in the health facility and 195 will have follow-up treatment.
Timor Harii Foundation (FTH) Director Aguia Belo asked the commission to have a careful look at the budget to avoid duplication of programs
“The amount of budget is so large that we should go over the activities we have already run or else the activities could be done twice,” said Belo.
