Visit to Burkina Faso
For her first official visit, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy went to Burkina Faso. She met women and children living with HIV, and attended a meeting of the Burkina Faso national coordination body, which coordinates the programs supported by the Global Fund and brings together governmental health authorities, non-governmental organizations, members of civil society and victims.
With 130,000 people living with HIV/AIDS — out of a population of 14 million (9,200 AIDS deaths every year) —, Burkina Faso (map), one of the poor countries in West Africa and also one of the most infected, only enables 17,000 people (out of 48,000 cases who need it) to access ARV treatment. The country has 100,000 AIDS orphans.
To date, the Global Fund has committed almost $45 million for HIV/AIDS programs in Burkina Faso. Since 2003, almost $29 million dollars have already been paid. “The position of ambassador may seem abstract. I do not want to handle this position of ambassador superficially, but in-depth, in contact with the populations,” Mrs. Bruni-Sarkozy stated.
