Press Release

OPEC Fund Director-General opens HIV/AIDS clinic in
Burkina Faso

116/2005 November 24, 2005, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso
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The Director-General of the OPEC Fund for International Development, Mr. Suleiman J. Al-Herbish, today presided over the official inauguration of an HIV/AIDS clinic in the district of Kossodo, in the Burkinabe capital, Ouagadougou. The Center has been financed under a joint OPEC Fund/World Health Organization (WHO) initiative against AIDS in Africa.

Present at the ceremony were Mr. Joseph Tiendrebeogo, Permanent Secretary of the National Council to Fight Aids, together with other government officials and representatives of WHO.

After the unveiling ceremony and a guided tour of the facility by Dr. Zongo, District Medical Officer, Mr. Al-Herbish praised the integrated nature of the Center’s services, noting “the dedication of its health professionals, who are striving to treat not only the physical side of HIV/AIDS but also its psychological impact.”

The Center was co-financed with an OPEC Fund grant of US$567,000 which was utilized to extend and rehabilitate the existing premises and provide equipment, medicines and training. The grant also helped to improve laboratory facilities. In addition to consultation and counseling services, the new Center offers HIV screening and day-care. Prior to today’s opening, a two-month sensitization campaign was carried out to inform the local population of the various services available at the Center.

The joint OPEC Fund/WHO Africa initiative is one of a series of projects currently being financed from the Fund’s HIV/AIDS Special Account. With resources of US$50 million, the Account is sponsoring programs in Africa, Asia, the Pacific, the Caribbean, Latin America and the Middle East, in cooperation with partners that include WHO, UNAIDS, UNESCO and UNICEF, among others.