At least 270 people become infected with HIV in Mozambique every day, putting the country in fourth place among the countries with the highest contamination rates worldwide. Minister of Health Armindo Tiago said on Monday that, although the government was implementing policies and strategies to counter this scenario, challenges still persisted in adhering to antiretroviral care and treatment programmes because of a number of factors, including stigma and discrimination.
“This reality continuously and permanently challenges us to engage in more interventional and coordinated action by all actors, aiming at reducing the number of new infections and improving the quality of life of people infected and affected by HIV, taking into account the negative impact generated by this disease on the social and economic fabric of our country, the minister of health said at the launch of the 2nd Stigma Index Study in Maputo.
Mozambique’s first (2013) Stigma Index study of people living with the virus revealed that they suffered discrimination in the community and in health facilities, preventing them from accessing services. The government had in response passed the Law for the Protection of the Person, Worker and Jobseeker Living with HIV, and was also making efforts to establish a favourable rights-based legal environment for the response to the disease. As a result, Minister Tiago said, human rights-based responses to the epidemic were underway, financed by the global fund and other partners, with a focus on seven programmes to reduce stigma and discrimination and increase access to justice.
The Stigma Index Study starts in June and ends in December, and will be carried out in Maputo, Gaza, Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Zambézia, Sofala provinces and in the city of Maputo. The survey covers people living with the virus, including sex workers, gay men , people who inject drugs, prisoners and transgender people. It is hoped the study will reveal the best way to eliminate stigma and discrimination, as well as to accelerate progress towards ending HIV/Aids as a public health problem by 2030. South Africa tops the list of countries with the most new infections, followed by Nigeria and Russia, with Mozambique in fourth place.
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