Guyana\'s HIV infection rate falls

The government in Guyana is reporting that a US-funded AIDS prevention programme has helped slash the HIV infection rate in the country from nearly three percent to about one percent.



Health Minister Leslie Ramsammy has described the programme led by the US Agency for International Development as a huge success story.



Dr Ramsammy says the government has tracked the decline of the virus by testing nearly half the population over the past three years.



The $20 million public awareness and prevention program was launched five years ago.



Some of the grant aid went to non-governmental organisations, which devised measures to warn of the dangers of promiscuous behaviour and the effects of HIV.