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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) - Puerto Rico's AIDS treatment program, hit by drug shortages in recent months, will be aggressively revamped to ensure patients in the U.S. territory receive medication without delays, the governor announced Tuesday.
The program aims to provide anti-retroviral drug therapy for thousands of HIV/AIDS sufferer but has faltered recently due to a forced rationing of free medicine for hundreds of patients. Advocates blame the shortages on mismanagement.
To strengthen the island's program, Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila said some $78 million in federal and local funds will be allocated to streamline medication disbursements and to hire 23 new employees, including Jorge Delgado Rivas, an HIV-positive doctor from California who will serve as the program's new director.
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