Addis Ababa — The Ethiopian Ministry of Health (MoH) said on Wednesday that the HIV/AIDS prevalence rate has reached 5 %, among women and that the infection rate was on the rise.

Dr. Kebede Worku, State Minister of Health said that HIV/AIDS, compounded with poverty was one of the major challenges for the health of mothers and survival of children in Ethiopia.

The minister was speaking at the 42nd annual conference of the Ethiopian Medical Association, which was opened here on Wednesday.

"Ethiopian women are vulnerable to HIV infection due to their low socio-economic status on top of the biological factors. The national surveillance report estimates the HIV prevalence among women to be 5 %,"Worku said.

According to government statistics, close to two million people are currently living with the virus in Ethiopia, making the country one of the largest HIV- infected populations in the world.

But NGOs estimate over three million people to live with the virus in the country.

The current prevalence rate of infection is estimated at 4.4 % at national level.

"This five percent HIV prevalence among the women is a bad news. It shows that there is still a lot that need to be done in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS among women," health experts attending the national conference said.

"This is a wake up call to the government and others working on HIV/AIDS." Dr, Kebede Worku noted that in order to minimize the spread of the virus, the government, in January 2005, has launched free ART service that has "important role in the prevention and control of HIV/AIDS." At the beginning of May 2006, about 35,000 beneficiaries have been accessing ART services in Ethiopia out of which 4 % and 46% are children and females respectively.

"Prior to initiation of free ART service, women constituted only 26 % of the total number of beneficiaries," Kebede added.

Yewondwossen Tadesse, president of EMA said on the occasion that 48 abstracts would be presented during the three-day conference, being held under the theme "Maternal and Child Health in Ethiopia in the Era of HIV/AIDS".