Mozambique: One in Five Pregnant Women Suffer From HIV/AIDS

5 June 2001
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

Twenty out of every 100 pregnant women who attend antenatal consultations in Mozambican health units are infected with the HIV/AIDS, Martinho Djedje, spokesperson for the Coordinating Council of the Health Ministry said in Maputo on Thursday. Djedje said that the situation is made worse because there is no systematic follow-up to assist the HIV-positive women, adding that in order to reduce the number of mother-to-child HIV transmissions, cheap anti-AIDS drugs must be made available.

Meanwhile, Rui Bastos, an adviser to the ministry on HIV/AIDS, said that it is quite impossible for Mozambique to treat all HIV sufferers because annual treatment for one person costs at least US $12,000.

UNAIDS and UNIFEM launch initiative to reduce HIV/AIDS among women and girls

The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and the Joint UN Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) have signed a cooperation agreement in a move to address the alarming spread of HIV/AIDS among women and girls. The new partnership took place as governments ended week-long deliberations leading up to the 25 June Special Session of the General Assembly on HIV/AIDS. The agreement will help to strengthen the UN global response to the epidemic.

While the disease itself is a health issue, the epidemic is a gender issue. According to UNAIDS June 2000 report, women constitute 47 percent of the 34.7 million adults living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. If women had control over their bodies and were able to negotiate safe sex, the disease might not have reached such vast proportions. For instance, a Zambian study found that less than 25 percent of women believe that a married woman can refuse to have sex with her husband and only 11 percent thought they could ask their husband to use a condom.

"Gender inequality is at the heart of the epidemic, which today is our biggest threat to development," said Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director for UNIFEM. "We must address power imbalances in every single policy, strategy and programme related to prevention, treatment and care, if we seriously want to tackle this global challenge. It is not simply a matter of justice and fairness. In this case, gender inequality is fatal." It is estimated that 55 percent of all HIV positive adults in sub-Saharan Africa are women. Teenage girls are infected at a rate 5 times greater than their male counterparts.

2. Links

A Media Campaign to Mark Two Decades of the AIDS Epidemic For More Information: http://www.20yearsofaids.org

CNN special week of programming to mark 20 years of AIDS: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/aids/

The Center for Disease Control's National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention has developed a Web site to assist organisations and individuals wishing to mark 5 June as the 20th commemoration of AIDS. The site includes significant articles, streaming Web videos, a 20-year timeline and other significant information: http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/od/20years.htm.

3. Conferences/Research

The Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) in collaboration with the Regional AIDS Training Network (RATN) and Southern Africa AIDS Training Programme (SAT) are organising a new comprehensive training course on "Gender, Policy and HIV/AIDS". The course is for two weeks, June-July 2001, it will take place in Dar es Salaam, at the premises of the TGNP Resource Centre-Mabibo.

Contact Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP) P.O.Box 8921 Dar es Salaam Tel: +255 22 2443205, 2443450 Fax: +255 22 244244

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