By Joseph Guyler Delva |  December 2, 2005

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti, (Reuters) - Haiti has cut the prevalence of

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HIV infection by half in the past decade, largely through education programs, a leading health official in the western hemisphere's poorest nation said on Thursday.

Haiti General Hospital Director Dr. Albert Camille Archange said 3.1 percent of the population carried the human immunodeficiency virus, compared with 6 percent in 1995.

That still leaves it with the highest infection rate in the western hemisphere.

"We've made considerable progress as shown by the figures. We only have to continue to work hard to bring the HIV prevalence rate even lower," said Archange, who manages the largest public health center in the troubled Caribbean nation of 8 million people.

Haiti is one of 15 countries targeted for $15 billion in AIDS relief assistance over five years under a U.S. emergency plan.

The United States donated about $40 million this year to help Haiti implement programs aimed at educating Haitians, particularly the youth population, about the disease and providing medical care for people infected by the virus that causes AIDS.

The U.S. embassy in Port-au-Prince said the United States would devote $48 million in 2006 to support programs set up by the Haitian government and by local and international nongovernmental organizations to combat HIV/AIDS.

Haiti's public health minister, Dr. Josette Bijou, said several studies showed that more Haitians, particularly the young, were using condoms and had adopted more responsible sexual behavior.