HIV/Aids impacts on Moz

2009-07-07 12:10

Maputo - The impact of HIV/Aids on children might prevent Mozambique from achieving the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by a third, a report said on Tuesday.

"Out of an estimated 10 000 Mozambican children with HIV, just 15% are receiving antiretroviral (ARV) treatment, and the virus has become the second main cause of death among children, after malaria," according to the latest report of the Economic Intelligence Unit (EIU).

"As a result, the impact of HIV/Aids remains a major obstacle to achieving Mozambique's Millennium Development Goals, in particular reducing child mortality by one-third by 2015," said a statement from EIU.

According to a recent report by the UN Children's Fund (Unicef), while gains had been made in reducing child mortality rates, Mozambique still had one of the highest child mortality rates in the world.

Mother-to- child transmission

"Every year, about 110 000 new-borns die before reaching age one and an additional 51 000 die before reaching age five - nearly 453 every day," said the Unicef report.

The global agency noted in the report that malaria, diarrhoea, acute respiratory infections and vaccine-preventable diseases were the main causes of child deaths in Mozambique.

"And gains that have been made in reducing child mortality are now threatened by HIV and Aids.

"About 500 people become infected every day, of whom about 90 are children infected through mother-to-child transmission," said Unicef.

Massive expansion

Malaria is the leading killer of children, contributing to around 19% of all child deaths and it kills nearly one in every 20 children before they reach the age of five, says the Unicef report.

The EIU report noted that while the country's public health response to HIV/Aids had been based on raising public awareness of contraception, the country had also started providing more expensive ARVs using generic drugs purchased at a discount under provisions made during the Doha round of world trade talks.

"Moreover, the government estimates that 19% of public-sector employees are HIV positive, which will require a massive expansion in the availability of ART (antiretroviral treatment) in order to ensure the ongoing provision of basic social services," added the statement.

Mozambique's official HIV/Aids infection rate among the 16- to 49-year-old group was pegged at 16% - a figure which independent organisations saw as an understatement.

- SAPA