Since, 1990, the UK has provided over one billion condoms for use in developing countries, making us the fourth largest provider in the world. Every second, 15 condoms sponsored by DFID are used around the world. Two million people were receiving anti-retroviral treatment in low and middle income countries at the end of 2006, which is a 54% increase on the previous year. As the second largest donor to HIV/AIDS, DFID can claim a share of this impact. In sub-Saharan Africa, the number of treatments rose from 100,000 in 2003 to 1.3 million by December 2006. The number of treatment sites has grown from 3 to 110 in Zambia and from 3 to 60 in Malawi over the last two years.
DFID is the lead agency in reducing the harms that are associated with drug use. DFID projects and political lobbying in China have been hugely influential in changing national policies. The government is now allocating significant financial resources to scaling up resources for injecting drug users. 320 treatment centres have been set up in the past 2 years, providing services for 37,000 drug users. More than 1,000 treatment centres are expected by 2008.
In Malawi, we are helping with a £100 million emergency programme over 6 years, part of which aims to double the number of nurses and triple the number of doctors, and retain them through better pay and conditions – with a salary increase of 50%. DFID’s funding has reduced the vacancy rate and doubled the number of nurses in training.
