MOZAMBIQUE: No withdrawal of AIDS drug plant

Brazil has dismissed claims that it plans to withdraw an offer to build an AIDS drug manufacturing plant in Mozambique, signed during the visit of Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva last November.

Pedro Chequer, director of Brazil's national AIDS programme, was recently quoted by the Portuguese news agency Lusa as saying: "It's not worth building a factory making antiretrovirals in Mozambique, for it to become a white elephant."

According to the local news agency, AIM, a media release by the Brazilian embassy in Mozambique on Wednesday said the press reports were a "misinterpretation" of a statement made Chequer, with parts of what he told the media taken "out of context" and reported in a "distorted" way.

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[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]