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May 10, 2007, 11:00
More than 300 000 people living with HIV/Aids need anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment in Mozambique, but only a fraction of them are actually receiving the drugs, national media reported today.
Cesar Mufanequico, co-ordinator for the Anti-Retroviral Treatment Access Movement, told Radio Mozambique that throughout the country "only 44 000 HIV-positive persons" out of an estimated 300 000 were receiving anti-retroviral treatment. He said the government's expectation was to increase the number of anti-retroviral treatment recipients to 90 000 by the end of 2006.
Acceleration of Aids-combating strategy
Mufanequico was speaking ahead of the global week on access to anti-retroviral treatment, which will be marked from May 20 to 26. He urged the government to accelerate its Aids-combating strategy by increasing the number of people receiving anti-retroviral treatment.
UNAids estimates that at least 230 000 are in need of anti-retroviral drugs throughout the country. "The government failed to meet a target of reaching 55 000 people, 3 500 of them children, with treatment by the end of 2006, but there have been some improvements," said a UNAids report published in April.
The Mozambican government expects to receive this year more than $300 million from the Global Fund to Fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria, the World Bank, and the Clinton Foundation.
Aids appeal
In September 2006, the United States government, through the President's Emergency Plan for Aids Relief, donated $94 million in response to Mozambique's Aids appeal.
Mozambique's Aids infection rate is pegged at more than 16% and new infections reported each year continue to strain efforts to fight the epidemic in this impoverished country of more than 19 million people. - Sapa
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