The first health centre for prostitutes in Bulgaria is to open in the Black Sea city of Bourgas, Monitor.bg said on October 5 2005.

The facility is to provide first-grade assistance and advice, free condoms, lubricants, "and other auxiliary accessories for safe sex", the report said.

The project is set up the Bourgas municipal health department in conjunction with the HIV/AIDS Prevention and Control Programme financed by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, or simply The Global Fund, and it is co-ordinated by Assena Mateeva.

The organisers have given their assurance that "anonymity is respected and that everyone will be accepted".

According to Monitor, "the conditions and services provided to the people in this facility are of the highest quality possible, and everyone will be treated and/or advised, no questions asked".

To date, the Global Fund has given Bulgaria nearly 18 million euro to help the country combat and curtail its domestic AIDS problem over the course of the next three years, Bulgarian National Radio said on April 2 2009.

The 18 million euro will help efforts to curtail the spread of the disease and improve the quality of life of people in Bulgaria who have HIV.

AIDS awareness offices have been set up nationwide in Bulgaria, sponsored by the Global Fund, including 10 clinics, 19 facilities for anonymous and free testing and counselling, as well as centres set up in Roma communities across Bulgaria. Furthermore, 12 mobile medical offices have also been funded from the same subsidy.

The Global Fund is a public-private partnership, established in 2002, but is often considered part of the United Nations, in part because the World Health Organisation (WHO) provides many administrative services to the Global Fund secretariat and is also based in Geneva, Switzerland.