MOZAMBIQUE: Lewis demands increased AIDS treatment

It is "desperately urgent" that Mozambique reach its anti-AIDS treatment targets by the end of this year, according to the UN's Special Envoy for AIDS in Africa, Stephen Lewis.

Mozambican Health Minister Paulo Ivo Garrido announced plans in March to more than double the number of people receiving free antiretroviral (ARV) drugs, to 50,000 by the end of 2006.

However, official figures reflected that just 28,000 of the estimated 200,000 adults in immediate need of treatment were accessing the life-prolonging medication.

"HIV/AIDS has thrust Mozambique into a grave crisis and, unless it is treated as an emergency, there will be a terrible price to pay. The government must move heaven and earth to roll out treatment in these next six months," Lewis said in the capital, Maputo.

Theme (s): Care/Treatment - PlusNews,

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