Ethiopia, one of the world’s poorest countries severely affected by HIV/AIDS, started a programme on Monday to give free antiretroviral drug treatment to 320,000 people by 2008.

The drugs are primarily sponsored by U.S. President George Bush’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, which in 2003 called for $15 billion to fight the pandemic in 14 mostly African countries over five years.

Ethiopia, with 1.5 million of its 70 million population infected, will receive $17 million for 2005, U.S. Ambassador to Ethiopia Aurelia Brazeal said at a ceremony launching the Ethiopian programme.

Only a fraction of money promised by President Bush has been delivered so far. Ethiopia has already received $43 million. Current efforts to fight the disease have cut the average prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the country of 70 million people to 4.4 percent from 6.6 percent last year, the Ethiopian Health Ministry said.

“Even if the rate of progression of the epidemic is decreasing, hundreds of thousands of our people continue to perish,” Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said at the ceremony. “Although early results may be encouraging, it is not reassuring.”

Under a new Ethiopian initiative, AIDS prevention programmes will focus on rural areas where prevalence is 2.6 percent but increasing, according to a health ministry report.

Urban centres have a prevalence rate as high as 12.6 percent, but are decreasing, the report said.

The report said in 2003, 114,690 Ethiopians died of AIDS-related conditions, bringing the number of AIDS orphans to over half a million.