Low condom use rates persist in Maputo city

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Low condom use rates persist in Maputo city

1:36 CAT | 18 Jul 2018

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Maputo city governor Iolanda Cintura on Friday decried the low level of condom use in HIV/Aids prevention in the country’s capital.

Speaking in Maputo on the sidelines of a meeting of the provincial Council for the Fight against Aids (CPCS), Governor Cintura pointed out that more than two million male condoms and about 50,000 female condoms were made available during the first half of this year, but only 56 percent of the offering was taken up.

“No more infections are justified in the city of Maputo because the information is available, and the means of prevention as well. But there is no change in attitude,” she said.

However, the governor expressed optimism around the fall in figures for mother-to-child infection. “We are pleased with the reduction in the rate of transmission from mother to child, thanks to the fact that every pregnant woman who goes to a prenatal clinic undergoes testing. If she is seropositive, she immediately starts treatment.”

By 2017, the vertical transmission rate at city level was 14 percent. It is expected to be below five percent by 2020.

CPCS Executive Secretary Samuel Quive pointed out that Maputo city nevertheless has the lowest rate of new infections in the country but pointed out that challenges remained in reaching the goal of zero new infections by 2030.

According to Quive, the biggest challenge was continuing the awareness campaigns, including health fairs to boost counselling and testing.

For the current year, the government has provided just over two million meticais to support institutions that work directly with communities in the implementation of actions to combat Aids.

In 2017, 1,838 people lost their lives to the disease in this part of the country. The sero-prevalence rate in Maputo is 16.9 percent, well above the national average of 13.2 percent.

Source: Notícias