World leaders urge stronger support of AIDS response

UNAIDS together with leaders from Norway, the UK and Sweden, ended a visit to Mozambique this week with calls for increased donor support of the country's response to HIV/AIDS. The delegation also urged increased care for all HIV-positive Mozambicans as well as children who have lost one or both parents to AIDS-related illnesses. "The country's National AIDS Control Council also must be strengthened to spend financial resources effectively ... [and] regular reviews of Mozambique's strategic HIV/AIDS plan should be carried out to ensure that the country's response keeps pace with the evolving nature of the epidemic," the delegates said in a joint statement. Meanwhile, in a five-year control programme currently being considered by parliament, the southern African country has declared its fight against HIV/AIDS a "national emergency".