The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) will invest 35 million dollars in a programme to reduce the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique.
According to a statement from the US embassy in Maputo, quoted by Lusa and released this Tuesday, December 12, the programme also aims to combat “the stigma” that prevents people from seeking, being tested and receiving treatment.
The Key and Priority Populations for HIV (PASSOS+) project is funded by the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and will make it possible to “train and support health professionals to provide high-quality, stigma-free HIV prevention and treatment services to these populations”, the statement said.
The document states that “PASSOS+ will also work to increase referral services, map and monitor the services provided to these populations and reduce structural and social barriers to health services. The aim of this programme is to overcome these barriers so that quality services are available at community level and at the level of health units, so that no Mozambican is underserved.”
The programme will be implemented over five years by a consortium of Mozambican non-governmental organisations, led by the International Centre for Reproductive Health in Mozambique (ICRH-M), together with the Ministry of Health and the National Council Against AIDS (CNCS).
“Improving health among key populations who are at high risk of contracting and spreading HIV. These populations – men who have sex with men, transgender individuals, sex workers, people who inject drugs and people in prisons and other closed environments – also suffer from discrimination and a lack of social status, making it difficult for them to access quality HIV treatment services,” the US authorities emphasised.
The US government said it was guaranteeing more than 400 million dollars in annual assistance to fight the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Mozambique, through PEPFAR.
“With this support, Mozambique’s national response to HIV has made incredible progress in ensuring that people living with the disease have access to and maintain treatment,” he added.
At least 48,000 people die each year in Mozambique from HIV/AIDS and another 97,000 are infected, according to 2022 estimates put forward by the Minister of Health, Armindo Tiago, during a ceremony to mark World Aids Day.
“The figures we are announcing here are not just statistics, they represent pain and suffering, but above all the loss of our fellow citizens,” said the minister.
Armindo Tiago also said that 2.4 million people live with the human immunodeficiency virus in the country, 94 per cent of whom are over the age of 15, and the vertical transmission rate is 10 per cent.
Of the total number of people infected in Mozambique by September this year, at least 88% knew their status, compared to 36% in 2010.
