he United States of America will provide 404 million dollars for Mozambique’s operational plan to combat AIDS in 2023, the American embassy announced in a statement.
The support is earmarked for the implementation of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan 2021-2025, which seeks to reduce infection levels and, above all, ensure treatment for children, adolescents, and youth.
“With the aim of leading Mozambique to achieve the UNAIDS 95-95-95 target and ultimately control of the epidemic,” the statement released on the U.S. website reads.
The UNAIDS 95-95-95 target calls for 95% of people at risk to have access to appropriate prevention options (condoms and drugs), for 95% of HIV-positive pregnant or breastfeeding women to have an undetectable blood viral load thanks to treatment, and for 95% of children exposed to HIV/AIDS to be tested by 2025.
The amount was approved on Wednesday, in a virtual meeting that brought together the US global AIDS coordinator, Angeli Achrekar, the US ambassador to Mozambique, Peter Vrooman, and officials from the Maputo Ministry of Health.
“This investment adds to the more than 4 billion dollars invested by the United States Government for the response to HIV/AIDS in Mozambique over the years since 2004,” he added.
According to statistics from the Ministry of Health, Mozambique registers a daily average of 364 new HIV/AIDS infections, placing the country among the most affected, after South Africa, Nigeria and Russia.
The country has about 2.2 million people with the disease, a third of whom are not on treatment, according to data from the National Council for Combating HIV/AIDS.
