MOZAMBIQUE: AIDS rates climb more than two points

Mozambique's Ministry of Health has revised its official HIV/AIDS prevalence rate upwards from about 14 percent in 2002 to an estimated 16.2 percent of the adult population at present.

The new figures, collected nationally during 2004, showed the pandemic was spreading fastest in the capital, Maputo, and the southern province of Gaza.

Reuters quoted Health Minister Paulo Ivo Garrido as saying, "The figures show that, unfortunately, the AIDS epidemic in the country is still growing. These numbers must be a motive for us all."

Mozambique has been less affected by AIDS than many of its neighbours, in part because it was isolated by a 16-year civil war that lasted until 1992.

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