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Mozambique: AIDS deaths average 51,000 annually – government
11:26 CAT | 09 Jun 2020
FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]
The number of AIDS deaths in Mozambique has fallen to an annual average of 51,000 over the past 14 years, the executive secretary of the National AIDS Council (CNCS) said on Tuesday.
Francisco Mbofana said in an interview with Notícias, the main Mozambican daily, that the country had its peak in the number of AIDS deaths in 2006, when 76,000 people died.
“With the introduction of antiretrovirals, the trend is to decrease,” Mbofana said.
“In more than 20 years of fighting the epidemic, Mozambique has managed to put about 1.3 million people on antiretroviral treatment, out of an estimated 2.2 million living with HIV in the country,” Mbofana said.
Despite this gain, he expressed concern that there is still a high rate of abandonment of treatment, with 30% of patients giving up medical care against AIDS.
The stigma and difficulties of travelling to health facilities are the main reasons for the high dropout rate, he explained.
Francisco Mbofana advanced that the lack of adherence to health care is more critical among young men aged between 20 and 29.
In this age group, the dropout rate reaches 50%, he added.
To reverse the picture, health authorities have introduced differentiated health models, based on patients reducing their attendance at health units.
Source: Lusa
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