9-year-old girl beats AIDS to offer hope amid funding cut concern
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A South African girl became only the third child to beat the AIDS virus into long-term remission, almost nine years and counting, after receiving a drug cocktail in infancy, researchers announced Monday.
In the 9th IAS Conference on HIV Science, Gregorio Millett, Vice President and Director of Public Policy amfAR said the White House earlier this year recommended a 242 million-US dollar cut in the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) funding for the remainder of fiscal year 2017, which represented 6% of its total budget.
Charles Lyons, President and CEO of Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation, said, “We will not end AIDS in children by 2020, which everybody has endorsed, and there are a number of other things that we won't be able to do and we'll see setbacks if we don't have high levels of investment continue.”
(Source: AFP)