20 May 2008…

Within the framework of trilateral cooperation with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Faculty of Medicine, Suez University, the Egyptian Fund for Technical Cooperation with Africa (EFTCA) organizes two training courses, the first in combating AIDS and tuberculosis, during the period from May 12^th to June 12^th 2008, EFTCA Secretary-General Ambassador Nevine El Ashmawy stated.

The first course will be attended by trainees from Ethiopia, Eritrea, Sudan, Burundi, Tanzania, Djibouti, Democratic Congo and Kenya. The second course in combating malaria, which will be held at the National Research Center for Anglophone trainees, will be organized in cooperation with the Islamic Development Bank during the period from May 23^rd to May 30^th 2008.

Ambassador Ashmawy outlined that these courses come within the framework of following the instructions of Foreign Minister Ahmed Aboul Gheit to improve the potentials of those working in combating AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; as such diseases pose an imminent danger to the African continent, and threat more than half of the African population.

EFTCA Secretary-General added that such courses reflect the fund's efforts in this regard in accordance with the international efforts, as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank established a partnership for combating malaria in 1998, and the United Nations also established the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM), which reflects the Egyptian keenness on cooperating with the regional and international efforts in such fields.