On Friday, February 22, Ambassador FitzPatrick met with the Minister of Health to discuss the opportunities in the public health sector that the USA is funding and assisting with here in Gabon. Extremely prominent among these efforts has been the donation through the US Department of Defense HIV/AIDS Prevention Program (DHAPP) of a years’ worth of Antiretroviral medication for the entire ~29000 people of Gabonese population who currently test positive for HIV worth over $2.5M. DHAPP Director General, Dr. Braden Hale, was present at the meeting and stated that though “DHAPP has worked closely with the DGSSM on a daily basis for over the past ten years to assist Gabon’s military health initiatives, but this donation went above and beyond to assist the civilian population as well.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Gabon.