International Seminar on HIV/AIDS Opens in Maputo

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 16, 2003

International Seminar on HIV/AIDS Opens in Maputo

A seminar on "Strengthening Health Sector Intervention in the fight against HIV/AIDS" opened in Maputo, Mozambique Wednesday.

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A seminar on "Strengthening Health Sector Intervention in the fight against HIV/AIDS" opened in Maputo, Mozambique Wednesday.

Representatives from 10 African countries -- Mozambique, Tanzania, Angola, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Swaziland, Burundi, Burkina Faso, Rwanda and Cote d'Ivorie, are attending the seminar, which will end Thursday.

Representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) in Mozambique, Solange Kuou Epa, said at the opening of the seminar that an effective struggle against HIV/AIDS must involve both preventive programs and care for those already infected with the virus.

Kuou Epa stressed that, given the seriousness of the situation,increasing the number of preventive programs and providing more effective care were the best way of fighting the epidemic.

It was in this context that the WHO and the Italian government launched in 2001 an innovative initiative to strengthen the work against HIV/AIDS in the health sector of 10 African countries, Kuou Epa said.

Each of the countries receives 500,000 US dollars a year to implement projects under the initiative, which is scheduled to last two years.

Kuou Epa said the initiative has succeeded in strengthening theservices dedicated to combating HIV/AIDS in some countries, by increasing the number of interventions, by taking the struggle into rural areas, and by building up the capacity of health professionals, particularly at district level.

But she warned that, without financial aid for multiplying initiatives in the fight against AIDS, "the epidemic will continueto intensify, and devastate countries' economies and cultures."

Despite the many strategies and interventions on the disease, HIV/AIDS is continuing to sweep through Africa, said Kuou Epa, adding that of the 3.2 million people believed to have died of AIDS in 2002, 95 percent were African, and the 10 countries benefiting from the Italian Initiative have a total population of 146 million, of whom eight million are living with HIV.

Official data indicates that in 2001 AIDS killed about 730,000 people in these countries, thus becoming the largest single cause of mortality.

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