MISAU and US Embassy hold national meeting to strengthen response to HIV/Aids in Mozambique

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MISAU and US Embassy hold national meeting to strengthen response to HIV/Aids in Mozambique

11:30 CAT | 23 Jun 2017

Courtesy of US Embassy in Maputo

The Ministry of Health and the United States Embassy in Mozambique held a national meeting to discuss strategies to strengthen the response to HIV/Aids between June 21 and 23 in Maputo.

The meeting brought together central and provincial technical teams from the Ministry of Health (MISAU) and the National Council for Combating HIV/Aids (CNCS), the United States President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and national and international partners involved in the response to the epidemic.

With more than 200 participants, the meeting created an opportunity to strengthen planning, collaboration and communication among the different institutional actors, allowing a situational analysis of the various clinical and community mechanisms for controlling the epidemic and defining strategies Increase their impact.

Noting the success of the national response over the last two and the growing availability of HIV prevention and care and treatment services throughout the country, the participants presented new proposals taking into account the preliminary results of the recently released Survey of Indicators of Immunisation, Malaria and HIV/Aids in Mozambique (IMASIDA).

Preliminary IMASIDA data estimate an increase in HIV prevalence among the adult population (15-49 years) to 13.2 percent, a difference of about 1.7 percentage points from the 2009 National Prevalence, Behavioural Risk and HIV/Aids in Mozambique (INSIDA).

Although IMASIDA’s final results are not yet available, its preliminary epidemiological data already guide new clinical and community strategies, and the need to further expand behavioural and biomedical prevention services is consensual. On the other hand, the increasing availability of HIV care and treatment services, which benefit more than 900,000 people across the country, is also recommended. To better target specific population groups such as children, adolescents and young adults and improve their access and retention in clinical care, innovative approaches have also been discussed.

During the meeting, the semi-annual results of the implementation of the PEPFAR 2016 Operational Plan (COP16) for Mozambique and the activities planned for the next year (COP17) were also presented. Through PEPFAR, the United States Government is the largest donor of national HIV/Aids response activities, with support exceeding US$2 billion since 2004.

The search for a rational and impactful use of the resources allocated through the COP to better serve the Mozambican population has led to growing coordination between the national health authorities and the PEPFAR representative team in Mozambique.

Source: Press release US Embassy in Maputo