18 July, 2005 18:24 GMT
Former President Bill Clinton dedicated a pediatric AIDS clinic Monday that was established with the help of his foundation to treat children infected with HIV. Clinton also reviewed progress made by the government in expanding access to
HIV/AIDS treatment.
The government, with the help of the Clinton Foundation, launched a program
last year that enrolled 5,000 patients across the tiny African kingdom.
The foundation is providing a supply of pediatric anti-retroviral medicine as
part of an initiative that seeks to increase the number of children being
treated from less than 100 to about 750 by the end of the year.
Six-Nation Tour
An estimated 22,000 children in Lesotho are infected with the HIV virus.
"Lesotho is helping to prove that pediatric HIV/AIDS treatment is indeed
possible in the developing world," Clinton said. "We are trying all we can to
help. Every child has a right to life, to grow up, to have a healthy life, to
dream their dreams and to get educated."
Clinton said the government had done a remarkable job in a short term, but
that its program needed more funding to provide universal treatment.
Clinton, on a six-nation tour in Africa to check on projects funded by his
foundation in the battle against AIDS, visits South Africa next.
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