Failed AIDS treatment target predicted

It is unlikely that Mozambique will meet its target of having 8,000 people on anti-AIDS treatment by the end of 2004, although more than 5,000 are already being treated. The Ministry of Health revealed this during a recent AIDS coordination and planning meeting in the capital, Maputo. According to the local news agency, AIM, the failure was blamed on a number of constraints, including a shortage of trained staff, delayed provision of necessary funds, and a lack of coordination between the various bodies involved. UNAIDS estimates that more than 12.2 percent of all Mozambicans aged between 15 and 49 are HIV positive, and the Ministry of Health says some 200,000 people have reached the advanced stage of infection that requires antiretroviral therapy.