Botswana: ARV Program Will Reach 50,000 People by 2005, Health Minister Says

Botswana Health Minister Lesego Motsumi last Tuesday at the XV International AIDS Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, said that the country will meet by next year its target of distributing antiretroviral drugs at no cost to about 50% of those who need them - about 50,000 HIV -positive people, Reuters reports. Currently, 17,400 people are receiving antiretroviral therapy through the country's public health service; an additional 6,700 receive the medications from the private sector.