E.U. announces launch of 126M Euro program to fight AIDS, TB in South Africa

European Development Commissioner Andris Piebalgs announced during a visit to South Africa on Monday that the European Union (E.U.) "will contribute 126 million euros to South Africa's fight against AIDS and tuberculosis (TB)," money that "will be used to improve South Africa's primary health care system, increasing access for patients," Reuters reports (9/12).

The money will fund the country's Primary Health Care Sector Policy Support Program, which "aims to contribute to increased life expectancy, reduced maternal and child mortality and the fight against HIV/AIDS and [TB]," a European Commission press release states, adding, "To this purpose it will support the South African government, and notably the Minister of Health, to improve access to health care services for patients and to raise the quality and management of the health system at district level" (9/12).