Clinton AIDS Charity To Help China

(AP)  The Chinese government has entered into a partnership with former President Bill Clinton's private foundation to deliver treatment and care for HIV-AIDS patients in China.

The William J. Clinton Presidential Foundation's HIV-AIDS Initiative also will help China develop better systems of care for the disease.

"I congratulate China for undertaking this aggressive and timely effort to address the AIDS epidemic," the former president said in a news release Thursday. The worldwide fight against AIDS has been a central aim of Mr. Clinton's post-presidential years.

Mr. Clinton spoke at the Tsinghua University Summit on HIV-AIDS in China last November. His foundation works to buy equipment, train medical personnel and funnel medicine into 18 countries in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

Ira Magaziner, chairman of the foundation's Boston-based HIV-AIDS arm, signed an agreement Thursday with Chinese Vice Minister of Health Wang Longde in Beijing.

Magaziner, a top aide in the Clinton administration, was the president's chief policy advisor on matters involving the Internet.