U.S. gives $81 million to fight AIDS in the Caribbean

The U.S. government has donated $81 million to the 15-member Caribbean Community to help governments buy anti-HIV drugs and develop HIV prevention programs, said Lolita Applewhaite, deputy director for the bloc known as Caricom. The money comes from the $15 billion effort to fight AIDS announced last year by President Bush, said Karen Turner, director for the U.S. Agency for International Development in the region. The Caribbean has the world's second-highest prevalence rate of HIV after sub-Saharan Africa.