A health project created in Bradford has been given a celebrity boost in its bid to tackle the scourge of Aids in Africa.

Doctors in the district teamed up with colleagues in Swaziland to help 250,000 people affected by Aids in the region.

They have now received a £120,000 grant from the Elton John Aids Found-ation.

Swaziland has the second highest rate of Aids in the world, with around 30 per cent of adults being HIV positive.

The Bradford-Swaziland health link was set up five years ago in partnership with the district's Good Shepherd Hospital, to help the massively over-stretched health services.

Dr John Wright, consultant epidemiologist at Bradford Hospitals NHS Trust, who has worked on the partnership since it was established, said: "We are delighted to receive this grant from the Elton John Aids Foundation.

"The Lubombo region currently has very poor care and poor diagnostic facilities for dealing with HIV and Aids.

"We hope through early diagnosis, supporting patients and setting up community-support systems, to help thousands of local HIV and Aids sufferers.

"We will also be able to buy drugs to prolong people's lives."

The health care projects introduced in the Lubombo region by Dr Wright and the partnership have been so successful that other regions of Swaziland have now begun to adopt them.

In recognition of the efforts made by health workers, the King of Swaziland recently visited the region to commend them for their efforts.

Dr Wright said: "The visit from the King recognised the wide-ranging achievements made by all involved in the health link."

The health link was supported in 1999 by a grant of £200,000 from the Department for International Development.

The money was used to set up a community health project for TB services.

The project developed schemes to allow patients to be treated for TB in clinics and at home, to ease the pressure on hospitals.

It was recently expanded to deal with epilepsy which has a huge stigma in the country and is often viewed as being the result of curses and bad spirits.

Dr Wright will visit Swaziland again in April next year to set up the Aids programme.