Africa-Press – Angola. About 320,000 people in Angola have HIV, according to the director of the National Institute for the Fight against AIDS.
Lúcia Furtado, who was speaking to the press yesterday in Luanda, after a meeting she had with the Ombudsman, added that Angola was invited to be part of a program whose primary action is to reduce the rates of child AIDS, which is still are very high.
He reiterated that the health of parturients and newborns are among the Executive’s priorities.
He added that the First Lady of the Republic took over the implementation of the project born free to shine, which allows HIV-positive women to give birth to healthy babies.
He informed that the provinces of Cunene, Cuando Cubango, Moxico and Lunda-Norte are the ones with the most cases of seroprevalence, due to the borders with other countries.
“The northern provinces, in general, have the lowest rates in the country, with Cuanza-Norte being a case study, as it is the only one with high numbers of infected people,” he said.
He indicated that, currently, Hospital Esperança assists 11 thousand patients and, annually, around thirty thousand new infections appear, a number that tends to decrease, due to the work of counseling.
Lúcia Furtado assured that, at the moment, 130 thousand people are receiving free medical treatment, with retrovirals, due to the expansion of the testing and counseling system.
“Angola has never had a shortage of medicines and, in the last two years, we have been through the best moments in relation to the stock of retrovirals. We have no reason to complain until March next year”, he assured.
He made it known that the National Institute for the Fight against AIDS spends twenty-one million dollars annually to guarantee the treatment of patients who come to public and private hospitals and clinics.
In turn, the Ombudsman, Florbela Rocha Araújo, said that they have received many complaints of intentional transmission and cases of violation with cases in the Criminal Investigation Service (SIC) and/or procedural delays.
She added that some women have been raped by people with visibility in the country and with financial means, “that’s why we went to the National Institute for the Fight against AIDS to be better informed”.
Training action for journalists
A group of journalists from various bodies has been taking part, since yesterday, in Luanda, in a training seminar, aimed at improving knowledge about HIV/AIDS.
According to the director general of the National Institute for the Fight against AIDS (INLS), Lúcia Furtado, it is intended that journalists are well prepared to address issues related to the disease and to disseminate strategies for the prevention, treatment and monitoring of patients.
He added that it is also intended to increase awareness campaigns, particularly for young people and girls from the most remote areas, as well as to encourage voluntary testing.
“We want to end the existing inequalities in the fight against AIDS and leave no one behind, promoting community interventions and intensifying actions to offer comprehensive prevention programs”, he concluded.
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