Maputo — Mozambique's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) and the National AIDS Commission (CNCS) on Wednesday called for greater efforts to implement legal mechanisms to protect HIV-positive citizens.
CNDH chairperson Luis Bitone and the CNCS deputy executive secretary, Idalina Libombo, both declared that the current legal framework is too weak when it comes to defending the rights of people living with HIV/AIDS, and those vulnerable to catching the disease, due to the prevalence of stigma and discrimination.
Speaking at a Maputo workshop on the theme of Human Rights and HIV/AIDS, Bitone said that people living with HIV "are very vulnerable, since they face very high levels of discrimination, stigma and injustice".
In recent years, he continued, "Mozambique has worked to improve the legal and institutional framework, by adopting important human rights legal instruments about HIV to eliminate all forms of inequality and guarantee universal access to health care".
Despite considerable progress in establishing a legal environment favourable to promoting the rights of people living with HIV, the country still faces challenges in implementation, Bitone admitted.
He pointed to problems in fighting against customary and traditional practices with the potential for spreading HIV, and difficulties in publicizing the existing laws. Key population groups at risk remained largely invisible, such as prisoners, sex workers and gay men.
Libombo warned that the disease is not only a public health threat, but also has serious impacts on the Mozambican economy. All sectors of society, she insisted, should work for greater awareness of the laws intended to protect people living with HIV.
Controlling and eliminating the disease, she continued, would depend on the awareness and intervention of all citizens. She noted that the Fifth Strategic Plan for the response to HIV, approved by the government last year, "takes an approach that is based on human rights".